


Complicated Worlds

by brooklyn_724



Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-20
Updated: 2016-05-04
Packaged: 2018-06-03 10:22:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 36,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6607216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brooklyn_724/pseuds/brooklyn_724
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alec Lightwood & Magnus Bane AU:</p><p>When Alec Lightwood - jobless and in need of money - gets a job working for one of New York's best selling companies - things in his life start changing. Not only is his new boss - Magnus Bane - an awfully attractive young man. But family drama and lack of self worth lead to one of the most spectacular journeys he will ever take. Falling for his boss had first seemed scandalous, but slowly and inevitably, Alec and Magnus become the couple that everyone around them never thought could be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. W e l c o m e  t o  B a n e

Alec had always like to think of himself as the kind of man who was always punctual. He was never late to school, never late to important family events, never late to anything of importance. Except maybe an important job interview that took him to the saharan desert and back to get. This job interview would determine his future, his father’s opinion of him, and a possible scholarship. But all hope of a bright future began to fade away as the clock struck 9:05, indicating that Alec was now five minutes late.  
Jumping out of the cab, half tugging at his jacket and half doing up his tie, he ran up two flights of stairs until he found himself inside the large Bane Building. The Bane building was home to some of the world’s greatest inventors, including the great man himself, Magnus Bane. Alec had been inspired by the Bane building for as long as he could remember. It was tall, modern, and most of all, the largest building in New York City.  
Walking over towards reception, Alec glanced sideways at the glass mirrors hanging on almost every wall. He looked presentable enough. With his normally messy black hair coamed neatly to the side and his body shoved tightly into an oceanic blue suit that brought out his eyes. He was almost certain that his brother and sister would laugh if they saw him. Trying not to overthink the upcoming interview, he practiced his best looking smile and polite nod of the head. An old woman with snow white hair sat down in reception, a large grey telephone glued to her hand. She glared up at Alec as he approached, forced to put down the telephone with a clang.  
“Yes?” she asked tiredly.  
“Uh, hi” Alec said with a small, tight smile. “I’m Alec Lightwood. I’m here for the job interview”.  
The woman blinked. “Lightwood? You’re…late”.  
“Yes, I know” Alec sighed, running his fingers through his hair like he normally did when he was nervous. “I just wasn’t sure what to wear and then my cab came late — oh and the traffic was-“.  
“Mr Bane will see you now” interrupted a kinder voice coming from a doorway to his right.  
He turned his head in surprise, delighting his eyes with a friendly smile belonging to a friendly face. A young woman was gesturing for him to follow her, her dark eyes inviting and warm. This, despite the old woman’s bitter eyes still on him, made him feel a lot better about the place. With a polite smile and a wave goodbye, Alec left the old woman to return her phone call, glad to be able to follow the friendlier lady inside.  
“I’m Catarina Loss” the woman said as a greeting. “I’m Mr Bane’s personal assistant. I’ll be showing you to his office, Mr Lightwood. How are you feeling?”.  
Catarina Loss was the first personal assistant Alec had ever heard sounding so genuinely nice. He’d met plenty other personal assistants in his lifetime. His father, Robert Lightwood was the head of an internet company called Wires and with that role, came many angry and stuck-up personal assistants. But Catarina was nice and friendly — something Alec wasn’t entirely used too.  
“I’m fine thank you” he replied with a small smile. “A little nervous…but I’m fine”.  
Catarina lead Alec down a long, long corridor before turning right down a corner. It was like running a marathon to keep up with Bane’s personal assistant. She walked so incredibly fast, fast enough to make Alec feel bad about his current sporting and fitness.  
“You’ll do great” she said encouragingly. “Mr Bane isn’t the scariest person you’ll ever meet. In fact, I think you’ll find he is quite an easy going young man”.  
Young man? Alec had always pictured the famous Magnus Bane to be some old guy who was too rich for his own good. Maybe Catarina was calling him young to be funny. Alec was almost certain that a great inventing company like Bane couldn’t be run by someone young.   
“Yeah I’m sure he’s great” he replied, more to convince himself rather than to agree with Catarina.  
The assistant continued leading him down another long corridor before pointing to a large electric blue door that had three words carved into it. MR MAGNUS BANE. This was it, Alec thought anxiously. This was the moment that would define his life forever. Catarina knocked on the door three times before inviting herself in. Alec stood well behind, taking the time to shove his hair away from his eyes and control the shaking in his legs. But he wasn’t given enough time.   
“Let him in” he heard an unfamiliar voice say.  
Catarina glanced over her shoulder at Alec and jerked her head towards the inside of the office. Alec nodded and straightened up, trying to remember exactly what he’d say to Mr Bane. But his mind went completely blank and he was suddenly left defenceless against one very powerful man. As he stepped inside, his eyes were quick to scan the small office. The walls were painted a dark Gold, a gold that resembled that of the Pyramids in Ancient Egypt. The furniture were a mixture of colours, ranging from a hot pink to a dark grey. The door clicked shut behind him and he suddenly realised that he was now alone with Magnus Bane. At first, he could not see any sign of another human being. But as Alec’s dark blue eyes relaxed, he could make out a tall figure slumped into a dark black chair that faced the book shelf at the back of the room. Before Alec could even think of how to attract the other man’s attention, Mr Bane was already turning around in his chair, turning so slowly that Alec was almost certain the man was being melodramatic.   
“Alexander Lightwood?” Mr Bane asked, perking one eyebrow up as he studied his hopeful guest.  
He looked Alec up and down, his green cat like eyes widening at the sight. He hadn’t expected such a young man to enter — and almost certainly not an attractive one. Alec’s dark blue eyes were the first thing Magnus noticed, then it was the dominant jawline, then the way Alec’s hair flopped over his eyes.   
“Yes” Alec answered quickly, snapping Magnus from out of his daze. “But I prefer Alec”.  
Alec could hardly breathe. His expectations of an old fat man wearing a suit covered in money may have been a little overly excessive. But that was nothing compared to what the real Magnus Bane actually looked like. He was incredibly stunning. With dark purple eyeshadow and glitter covered nail polish, the head of the company looked like he just walked out of a fashion parade. He was wearing a red velvet suit that hinted a tad of glitter. Alec had only just met the guy, but he had seen enough of him to know that he was a glitter covered freak.   
“Alexander” Magnus said as though the boy had never spoken. “Please, take a seat”.  
He watched the boy carefully as he pulled back a chair and plopped himself down. He delighted himself with the fact that before he had spoken, Alexander’s blue eyes had wandered all over his body. But if Magnus was being honest with himself, Alec wasn’t the only one whose eyes tended to travel.   
“Sorry I’m late” Alec said anxiously, rubbing both of his hands hard against his thighs in order to stop the shaking. “Traffic was…uh…terrible”.  
“New York traffic” Magnus sighed with a shake of his head. “I completely understand, Alexander”.  
The way his name rolled off of Magnus’ tongue made Alec shiver. No one really called him Alexander, to everyone around him, his name was just Alec. The only time he’d ever be called Alexander was if he was in trouble. But when Magnus said his name, there was no hint of anger or disappointment in it. It sounded more like admiration.   
“So how old are you Alexander?” Magnus asked, leaning forward in his seat eagerly. “And where did you go to school? And by school, I mean collage. High School was a complete and utter waste of time”.  
At that, Alec let out a small laugh. “Uh, I’m twenty-three years old and I went to Stanford University. I’m almost certain I wrote that in my resumé”.  
“Stanford?” Magnus asked, raising an eyebrow. “Rich family?”.  
“I-I guess” Alec said unsurely. “My dad owns the wires company further south. You may know it?”.  
Magnus’ eyes widened. “Is that so? The wires company?! Why on earth aren’t you working for your father?”.  
Alec must of flinched or something because Magnus had a sudden look of concern on his face. Alec had really hoped that he wouldn’t have to talk about his family. He had been so sure that he wouldn’t have to in order to get a simple reporting job. That was all that Alec was applying for. He wasn’t smart enough to be an inventor, but writing reports…that was his speciality.  “You don’t have to answer that” Magnus said as if he could read Alec’s thoughts. “None of my business”.  
“Sorry” Alec apologised, averting his eyes from Magnus’ daring gaze. “It’s nothing bad. I just — I don’t think working with my dad would be - would be-“.  
“Right for you?” Magnus offered.  
Alec nodded. “Yeah something like that”.  
“Alright then…now to the important stuff” Magnus clapped his hands together and lifted up a bright pink folder with the name: Alexander Lightwood scribbled all over it. “You are apparently a fantastic reporter”.  
Alec opened his mouth to say something smart, but decided better of it, and closed his mouth. He was never any good at sounding smart or making jokes or anything that normal human beings could do. So he often said nothing at all.   
“I read the report you wrote for your job application” Magnus said, his face suddenly becoming more serious. “It was well written, descriptive, elaborate — I could use that here. The current reporters are actually useless. Don’t tell anyone I said that”.  
Alec nodded quickly. “No of course not”.  
“Often the inventions my employees create never have much of an…extravagance that could be seen from just looking at it” Magnus explained, waving his hand in front of his face as he spoke. “I like my reports to be written with a descriptive and elaborate way of writing…that just hasn’t been happening”.  
Alec wasn’t sure if he should say anything. He was to busy staring at the pink folder in Magnus’ hands to be able to come up with anything smart to say. Thankfully, Magnus didn’t look up from the folder, indicating that he wasn’t expecting Alec to say anything.  
“I think” Magnus said slowly, drumming his fingers against the folder. “That I’d like to see you work here”.  
Alec almost fell off his chair. The words he had been dreaming to hear. The words that he had been so convinced he would never hear. They hung in the air, giving Alec a long moment before he could properly absorb them and choose an appropriate choice of words to reply with.  
“I-I would be honoured to work here” he said almost breathlessly. “T-thank you”.  
Magnus smiled and handed Alec the pink folder. “Don’t thank me yet, Alexander. Thank me when you get your first glittering pay check”.

**

“I got the job!” Alec announced as he opened the front door to his parents house.   
Jace and Clary were sitting in the living room, arms wrapped around themselves as though they’d just been making out. Jace was his step brother, the annoyingly handsome step brother that everyone adored. And Clary was his girlfriend. Jace was still living at home, which wasn’t at all surprising, and Clary was there so often that she practically lived there.   
“You got the job?” Jace echoed, his dark eyes betraying the wide smile on his face.  
It was clear that he was annoyed at being interrupted, but Alec didn’t care. For once in his life he finally had something good to share with the family and he wasn’t going to let Jace’s make out session ruin that. Of course, hardly anyone in the family knew he had even applied for a job. But it didn’t stop him from spreading the news around to every single member of the family.  
“Thats great, Alec” Clary said as she removed herself from Jace’s grip. “But what exactly is the job?”.  
“Probably cleaning toilets” Jace scoffed and Clary was quick to smack him.   
Alec rolled his eyes. “You’ll be surprised to know that I now work in the Bane Building. For Magnus Bane”.  
“You work for Magnus Bane?!” exclaimed a familiar voice from behind Alec.  
It was Isabelle. The beautiful younger sister that Alec had a tough time competing with. He and Isabelle were very similar in looks, if you removed Izzy’s over excessive amount of make up. But their personalities were completely different. Whereas Alec was the shy and quiet type. Isabelle was loud and confident.  
“Yes, yes I do” Alec said proudly as he turned around to greet his sister.  
Izzy wrapped her arms around her big brother excitedly and jumped up and down. The commotion must of been heard from upstairs because Maryse and Robert Lightwood were storming downstairs. Alec was surprised to see that his dad was home. Robert normally spent his nights stuck in his office, not at home with his wife and family.   
“Alec, what’s going on?” Maryse asked worriedly, her blue eyes unable to hide her confusion.  
Isabelle pulled away from Alec, nudging him forward so that he could tell their parents the good news. He’d never really been good at news telling. Jace and Isabelle were experts. They’d always come home from school when they were kids, showcasing brand new sports ribbons and awards. The only thing Alec had to show was a brand new bruise on his left cheek.   
“Alec?” Maryse urged, staring at her son with a steady gaze.  
Alec looked from his mom and then to his dad — who looked tired and angry as usual — before managing to take a deep, reflective breath.  
“You know how I applied for that job as a reporter” he started, trying not to sound like a stuttering five year old. “Well, I got the job. Today. Just now”.  
“He works for Magnus Bane!” Isabelle chimed in before Alec could do the honours.  
The Lightwood parents both had very different reactions. Maryse looked thrilled. Her eyes widened and a wide smile broke out on her hard and sculptured face. She wrapped her arms around Alec proudly and pressed a light kiss onto his cheeks. She also whispered the words Alec had been dying to here, “I’m so proud of you”. Robert, on the other hand, looked as though he were about to ram Alec into a brick wall. His dark eyes were narrowed and he folded his arms crossly over his chest. It was a known fact that Robert hated the Bane company. He’d hated how successful it was for its inventions. He also hated that he was often compared to a Magnus Bane guy who didn’t even show up to meetings that he arranged himself. Alec wasn’t really surprised by his father’s reaction — didn’t make him feel any less shittier though.  
“A reporter isn’t going to pay well” Robert stated, matter of factly. “You’ll be working six hours for nothing”.  
“Robert-“ Maryse began, but her husband hushed her with a raised hand.  
“I’m glad you’ve found something to do with your life, Alec” he said, his voice tainted with sarcasm. “Lets just hope that you don’t screw this up this time. Oh, and maybe don’t get a boyfriend”.  
Of course, Alec thought bitterly, here goes Dad with his homophobia again. Alexander Gideon Lightwood was gay. This simple fact hadn’t been well know until a couple of months ago. Alec had been well prepared to live out a closeted life, not tainting himself with the life of ‘sinners’ as his father liked to call it. But he hated having to live a lie. Or at least, his sister Isabelle told him that he would hate it. So one night, as the family all sat around the dinner table, he came out. The reactions had all been very different. Isabelle had been proud, smiling like a fool as she wrapped her arms around her big brother. Jace had been surprised, not by the fact that Alec was gay (( he kind of guessed)), but by the fact that Alec was brave enough to come out. Their younger brother Max, who was fifteen years old, almost spat out his drink. He’d always wanted a gay family member, but he always thought it would turn out to be him. Maryse and Robert weren’t so supportive. Maryse had been lost for words, almost dropping the glass of wine she had been raising to her lips. It had been clear then that Maryse was now aware of the fact that her eldest son wasn’t going to marry and have children. That was what upset her the most about the revelation of Alec’s sexuality. Robert’s reaction wasn’t as subtle as the rest. He’d kicked his chair back and started shouting. Harsh words and insults that Alec could barely understand. It had resulted in a slap across the face and Robert sulking out of the room. The memory was almost unbearable.  
“I’m pretty sure a boyfriend won’t affect my job, Dad” Alec snarled. “Not every boss is a homophobic asshole like you. Pretty sure thats why Magnus Bane is so freakin’ popular. He’s a lot nicer than you”.  
“Alec” Isabelle said warningly, brushing her hand along Alec’s arm to calm him down.  
Robert and Alec both glared at each other. Their eyes locking in some sort of show down. It didn’t break off until Max came downstairs, his dark hair spiking up in all different directions just as Alec’s normally did.  
“Does this family always have to fight?” he asked, looking from his parents to his siblings and then at Alec with an uncertain expression. “Congratulations on the job, Alec”.  
Alec smiled at his younger brother. “Thank you, Max. I’m glad someone’s pleased”.  
Without waiting to be invited to dinner, Alec stormed out of the house with a slammed door echoing behind him. He had moved out on the same night he came out to his family about being gay. Since then, he’d been living in a small apartment near the city. It was nice and peaceful to live alone…but he very much missed his siblings. But he no longer cared about going home alone on a night he was supposed to be celebrating. He just had to get away from his dad.


	2. What a Coincidence

Rain had started to pour down on the way back to his apartment. Alec could have sworn it only rained when he really didn’t want it to. Shoving his blazer over his head to shield himself from the rain, he ran towards a dark alley way that just smelt of trouble. Having a little brother like Max meant that Alec had seen every movie ever made in the history of movie making. It was a known fact that entering a dark alleyway in the middle of the night…meant certain death. But Alec, remembering that he was a grown man, walked down the alley way anyway, knowing that it would shelter him on his way home. The alley way wasn’t to creepy. It smelt like sewer — and Alec could have sworn he saw two rats. It also had graffitied covered walls that said things like: Shoot the faggots, Black Freedom, Fuck the Police, Isis is the next crisis. Alec rolled his eyes. People were just crazy. Eventually, after a few minutes of terror, he found the end of the alley way that lead out onto the streets. Thankfully, the rain had begun to die down and Alec was able to see in front of him clearly. In his current case, sight was a very important thing because he could not believe what he was now staring at. He had been almost certain the alley way would lead him home. But he had clearly been mistaken because he was not staring at his apartment block…he was staring at a male strip club. Alec didn’t even know that there was a strip club nearby — yet alone a male one. It was well hidden, he could tell. With alley ways spread out on all corners, followed by a long road littered with parked cars. Alec just stared, open mouthed. He was not the kind of guy who’d just waltz into a strip club and buy a tone of lap dances. He had more self respect than that. But with his head spinning and his father’s stern face flashing in his mind — the strip club was the only way to go.   
Inside, the club was pounding. Literally. Alec could feel the floor vibrate underneath him, the red and blue flashing lights only adding to the affect. The music was loud and seductive — the right kind of music to turn someone on. Alec ran his fingers through his wet black hair anxiously, hoping that no one he knew would see him. Not that anyone he knew would be in a strip club.   
“Would you like a drink?” a stranger asked from behind him, waving around a glass filled with a pink liquid that looked like some sort of party drink.   
Alec took the glass gratefully, watching as the half naked stranger wandered off towards the dance floor, offering drinks to plenty of other males. Alec had doubts about drinking an unknown substance, but he was in a strip club, how can his night get any worse? Gulping down the assumed alcohol, Alec managed to find an empty table towards the back of the club. His table had the perfect view of the three male pole dancers swinging themselves around as if they were dolls. Alec did well not to stare. Slumping over his chair, his glass of alcohol in hand, he watched as a blonde man with bright pink contacts gave an older man a lap dance. Yuck, Alec thought to himself. It must of been horrid for an attractive young man like the blondie to have to dance and tease all over a man in his late forties. When Jace had asked him if he wanted to become a male stripper, Alec hadn’t thought it would be a bad idea. Of course, he would have only considered it if he couldn’t find a good job. But now — as he watched the blondie move all over the older man — Alec doubted he would have done well working here. A sharp tap on the shoulder snapped him back to reality. He lazily turned his attention to the stranger who’d awoken him, his eyes widening when he realised who it was. Magnus Bane. Alec almost fell off of his chair. What the hell was his new boss doing in a male strip club? Oh god, Alec thought with a sick feeling growing inside of him, I’ve been caught. Unlike Alec, who looked as though he were about to pass out, Magnus looked quite pleased with himself for finding someone so familiar. Magnus had been in the club for a couple of hours, dancing lazily amongst a couple of attractive strangers. But when he saw Alec enter the club only minutes ago — he knew he had to pay the boy a visit.  
“Alexander Lightwood” Magnus beamed. “What a coincidence”.  
Alec was lost for words. What were you supposed to say to your boss after being caught at a male strip club? It was definitely not a situation Alec would have ever imagined himself to be in. But here he was, looking up at his very new boss who looked extravagant in tight fluro jeans and a bright green ((tinted with glitter)) shirt, seated in a male strip club.  
“I-I’m here for the d-drinks” Alec stuttered, holding out his glass of pink liquid as if the alcohol would explain everything.  
Magnus looked at the glass for a moment before grinning. “There are plenty of bars for drinking, Alexander. This is more for — other stuff”.  
Alec knew very well what a strip club was for. But he wasn’t man enough to admit that he came in order to celebrate his day’s success. If he told Magnus why he was there, that would just make things awkward. Then a thought struck him, what was Magnus Bane, the head of the Bane Company, doing in a male strip club?  
Magnus invited himself into a chair and sat opposite of Alec — still grinning. Alec was almost certain that he was blushing, but he hoped that the flashing lights would hide that from his face. He wasn’t sure what to say, or do, or think. But Magnus sure as hell looked amused.   
“You come here often?” Magnus asked, his lips curling into a cat like smile.  
Alec shook his head quickly. “No! No…I was walking home when I discovered it”.  
“Hm” Magnus smirked. “I had thought you to be an innocent young man earlier today. Not sure what I feel about this. It’s quite…interesting”.  
Damn it, Alec thought sourly, Magnus didn’t like that one of his new employees was actively gay and was going to fire him. His Dad had specifically told him not to screw things up this time. But what did he do? Screw. Things. Up.   
“Go on then” Alec said grumpily. “Tell me not to come to work tomorrow. Tell me you changed your mind about giving me a job. I can take it”.  
Magnus’ perfectly shaped eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Changed my mind? Oh, Alexander. I’m not going to fire you because you’re drinking in a strip club. That would be rather hypocritical of me, now wouldn’t it?”.  
Alec sighed in relief. Thank God. Chuckling, Magnus slid a twenty dollar bill across the table towards Alec. Unsure of why his boss was sliding him money, Alec blinked.   
“For the lap dance” Magnus explained, answering Alec’s unspoken question.  
Again, Alec blinked in confusion.   
“You know” Magnus said, jerking his head towards the blonde stripper who was now working on a slightly more attractive, but still old, man. “He’s cute. I’m sure he’ll enjoy working on you”.  
Blushing, Alec slid the money back towards Magnus. “I-I don’t want a- a…that”.  
“You sure?” Magnus asked with a smirk. “I saw you eyeing him earlier”.  
Alec was certain that by now, his cheeks were bright red. “He’s not my type”.  
“Then what is your type?” Magnus asked, leaning back in his chair with a curious look in his eyes.  
Alec’s eyes lowered towards the glass wavering in his hands. It was most certainly not professional to be discussing lap dances with his very new boss in a strip club. He could practically hear the disapproval of his father sounding in his head. He didn’t have to answer any of Magnus’ questions…he didn’t even have to talk to Magnus at all. If Magnus wanted to spend his nights flirting in a strip club, fine. But Alec wanted no part in it. Magnus’ sexuality was none of Alec’s business. As so, Magnus shouldn’t be bothering him about his.   
Sensing the tension vaporising off of Alec, Magnus clicked his tongue.   
“Ignore me” he said, his smirk fading. “I’m a little tipsy tonight. I’m not going to fire you because you’re gay and drinking in a strip club. You can rest well tonight, Alexander. I’m sorry for the intrusion”.  
Alec looked up, his eyes meeting Magnus’ for the first time during their conversation. Alec couldn’t help but notice just how cat-like Magnus was. Alec was definitely a dog person. But Magnus managed to pull of the cat-look rather well — very sexy and very…  
“It’s fine” he said, interrupting his own thoughts. “And thank you, you know, for not firing me”.  
Magnus gave Alec a cheeky wink before removing himself from the table. He didn’t say a word as he turned around in one swift motion, disappearing into a crowd of drunk men dancing like their lives depended on it. Alec simply watched, unable to breathe. Not only was his boss an incredibly hot and attractive man. But he wasn’t straight. This, Alec thought rather feverishly, is not going to end well.

**

“Why are you back here again?” Isabelle asked frantically as she helped a drunk Alec up the stairs towards his old bedroom.   
“Lost” was all Alec could say before puking all over his shoes.  
Isabelle pulled a face and practically threw her big brother onto his old bed. Alec’s bedroom was left mostly the same. With old band posters still clinging to the walls and a small drawing hanging above his mirror. The drawing was of the family — Alec himself, Izzy, Jace, baby Max, Maryse and Robert. Alec had drawn it when he was nine, trying to train himself into becoming an artist. That never quite worked out. Art was his worst subject. But he had kept the drawing to remind himself of how much his family meant to him.   
“You are a disgusting drunk” Isabelle groaned as she flung Alec’s shoes across the room and slowly unbuttoned his white collared shirt. “Where did you even go?”.  
“Strip club” Alec answered tiredly.   
The alcohol in his system did not cater for keeping things from nosy little sisters. Of course, in the morning, he’d be bombarded with a tone of questions as to why he had been in a strip club. But for now, Izzy just stroked her brother’s cheek with concern. Laying shirtless in his old bed, his eyes half closed, Alec looked as though he’d just woken up from the dead. He was pale — uncharacteristically pale. And his eyes were not a safe kind of red.  
“Alec, what the hell was in your drinks?” Izzy asked worriedly, still stroking her brother’s cheek.  
Alec — who was never the best kind of drunk — began to sing ‘champagne showers’ by LMFAO. Isabelle rolled her eyes dramatically and left the room, praying to God that by morning, her brother would stop singing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is chapter 2! Hope you like it, I'm not really sure if I do. I'll post chapter 3 sometime soon if people still want more, I don't know. Thanks for all the comments for chapter one and all the kudos??? I'm not sure what they are yet lol. 
> 
> Thanks again !! :')


	3. First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is chapter 3, as promised. Hope you like it, I know there isn't much of Magnus & Alec communicating but the small talk is what develops their "relationship".
> 
> I'll post chapter 4 if its wanted, which I hope it is because I'm really liking this fic. 
> 
> Thank you :')

“Crap” Alec groaned as he glanced over at the clock on his bedside table.  
His first day of work started at 7:50am. The clock unmistakably read, 7:30. There was no way in hell he was going to one; recover from his hangover, two; make himself presentable, and three; manage to get to work on time before his shift begun. Sometimes Alec wondered why he was jobless and single. Then other times, he reminded himself of how much of a complete idiot he could be and that always seemed to be the right explanation. Groaning, he rolled out of bed, not too surprised when his foot landed in a puddle of vomit. Before he could even think to groan, his bedroom door shot open to reveal an amused looking Jace.  
“Mom sent me up here to tell you that you’re late” he said, clearly trying to hold back a laugh at the sight of Alec.  
“Mom knows I’m here?” Alec asked, wincing slightly as he stood up.   
Jace plopped himself against the door frame and leant with his arms crossed over his chest. “Izzy explained. Apparently you came home drunk. Alec, Alec, Alec. Did you forget that your first day of work was the next day?”.  
“No” Alec said bitterly. “I just forgot that I’d be pestered by annoying siblings”.  
He wobbled his way towards the doorway, trying to usher his step brother out of the way. But Jace’s grin only widened and Alec feared that Isabelle told Jace exactly where he was last night. But the boy didn’t reveal the secrets behind his smile. Instead, he just placed a warm hand on Alec’s bare shoulder.  
“You’ll be relieved to know” he whispered softly. “That dad doesn’t know”.  
That was a relief. But Alec didn’t have time for relief and chatter. He had to have a shower as quickly as possible. He politely shoved Jace out of the way and charged towards the bathroom — a place that was hardly ever free of use. He could hear Jace laughing behind him, but he blocked all that out with a simple slam of the door. From there on, he wasted no time. Stripping out of his clothes, he turned on the shower, relaxed by the feeling of warm water trickling down his skin. The smell of alcohol and vomit disappeared down the drain, replaced by a clean strawberry soap that probably belonged to Isabelle. But Alec didn’t care. He needed to smell nice. Briefly washing his hair, Alec could hear the alarm clock ringing in Max’s bedroom. That could only mean one thing, it was now 7:40am. Max got up for school the same time every morning. Even though Alec had moved out six months ago, he still remembered that annoying alarm clock that sung in the normally calm and quiet household. Cursing, Alec jumped out of the shower. Yanking a random towel off of the rack, he stared at himself in the mirror. His eyes were red and his hair needed no description. He was almost certain that all the luck in the world…avoided him altogether. Wrapping the towel around this waist, he frantically began to brush his teeth. He could hear Max banging on the door, clearly busting to go to the toilet after just waking up.  
“In a minute!” Alec shouted, spitting out the water from his mouth and frantically grabbing his dirty clothing.   
He pounced out the door, not bothering to apologise for almost shoving Max to the ground. Darting across the hall with nothing but a towel around his waist, Alec feared that he had just entered an alternate universe where he was the star of the next biggest tv comedy. He shoved his bedroom door shut and almost cried out as Isabelle stood in the centre of the room, eyebrows raised high.  
“Tick tock, brother” she grinned.  
“I need to get dressed” Alec said, throwing his dirty clothes towards the washing basket. “I don’t have time to-“.  
“Here” Isabelle sighed, holding out a clean pair of black pants and a plain grey shirt. “Wear these. And hurry up, I’ll find you a blazer”.  
Alec took the clothing out of his sister’s hands slowly, watching as she turned around to rummage through his old wardrobe. He wasn’t very thrilled about having to get dressed with his sister in the room, but he was too late to be picky. Quickly, he shoved on the black pants and grey shirt, buttoning it up in record time. A tie, he thought quickly, darting across the room towards his old drawers. He wasn’t sure if he left any ties in his old room, but he sure as hell hoped that past Alec wasn’t a complete fool. Yanking open all the drawers at once, his eyes scanned all the different materials. Behind him, Isabelle let out a relieved sigh.  
“I found one” she said. “It’s black. Just the right colour for you”.  
With no tie in sight, Alec smashed his fist against the drawer. But he didn’t stress for long, he knew that he could just take one from his father’s room or borrow one from Jace. The blazer on the other hand, was an enormous relief.  
“Thank you, Izzy” Alec sighed, slipping into the blazer in one swift motion.  
“You know you’re going to owe me, right?” she said, her blue eyes sparkling with amusement.  
“Yeah yeah” Alec waved a hand at her. “Gotta find a tie. See you later”.  
He ran down the hall and barged into his mom and dad’s room where he was never ever supposed to go without permission. But permission took time and time…Alec did not have. Robert Lightwood owned at least twenty different styles of ties. All Alec needed was a plain one in any colour. Yanking all sorts of clothing from his parents’ drawer, he was relieved to find a plain black tie that would match his blazer.  
The clock struck 7:50 and Alec felt as though he were about to pass out. He was more than just late.   
“ALEC!” called an angry voice from downstairs.  
Alec wasted no time. He darted down the stairs faster than he had ever before. Faster than Christmas morning and faster than the day he had to beat up one of Isabelle’s ex boyfriends. Downstairs, Maryse Lightwood was standing at the front door, eyes wide and confused.  
“Alec, what are you still doing here?!” she asked.  
Alec didn’t have time to answer. He ran straight out the door, almost knocking over the delivery man and tripping over a cardboard box with Jace’s name on it. He ignored Isabelle’s encouraging voice and his mother’s worried shouts of protest. He was a man on a mission. A very late man on a mission.

**

“You’re late” sighed the old woman sitting at reception. “Again”.  
“Traffic” Alec said breathlessly, trying desperately not to collapse onto the newly polished white floor.  
“Mr Santiago was here fifteen minutes ago” the old woman said. “I’ll just summon him…again”.  
Alec obviously hadn’t noticed the distain in the woman’s voice because he thanked her as though she’d just saved his life. Which initially, she kind of did. Well…only because she wasn’t going to dob him in. Magnus Bane didn’t have to know he was late on his first day…surely not.  
“Mr Lightwood?” asked an unnervingly familiar voice from behind him.  
The old woman put down her phone and gave Alec an expectant glare. “Mr Santiago’s here for you now”.  
Santiago, Alec thought silently, I’m sure I’ve heard that name before. When he turned around to see who the familiar voice belonged to, he suddenly knew why he had recognised the name.   
“Ah, I knew I recognised your name from somewhere” Mr Santiago said with a vicious grin. “Alec Lightworm, it’s good to see you again. Oh and look…you have finally grown into yourself”.  
Mr Santiago, more commonly known to Alec as Raphael Santiago, was the world’s douchiest douche. Alec and Raphael went to High School together. Raphael had been one of those short, Spanish kids that everyone loved to hang around just because of his accent. Alec, on the other hand, had one or two friends that he hung with. And he and his friends…were often targets to Raphael’s cruelty. Raphael, the small, rich, catholic boy, was the school bully. A bully, who insisted on picking on Alec because Alec wasn’t like everyone else. That was until Jace had caught Raphael picking on him and threatened to turn Raphael’s intestines inside out.   
“Good to see you again, dora” Alec spat. “I take it I have you to show me around”.  
Raphael chuckled. “Yes you do. You know, I never thought I’d see you again. I just assumed you’d end up dead on the side of the road. You were never much of a worker. But then again, that explains why you’re late”.  
“There was traffic” Alec lied, not wanting to admit the real reason why he was late. “And if I remember correctly….you weren’t much of a worker either”.  
Raphael threw his hands up in the air. “Well, look at me now. I’m one of Bane’s most successful Inventors”.  
“You’re an inventor?” Alec choked, trying to hold back a laugh. “What did you invent? The next taco?”.  
“I’m not Mexican” Raphael pointed out. “And if you’re going to be racist…leave”.  
“If you can’t take racism then maybe you shouldn’t be so freaking homophobic!” Alec snapped.  
In High School, Alec was closeted. However, one of his bed friends, Aline Penhallow was an openly gay young female. In finding out this information, Raphael had spent weeks bullying Aline about it. He called her all kinds of terrible names. He even started graffitiing “God will punish you” on her school locker.   
“Lets be adults” Raphael said, his voice suddenly firm. “I’m going to show you your office. And you and your stupid baby face can get out of my way”.  
Alec nodded, straightening up so that he towered over Raphael. “Sounds great. Lets go”.  
Raphael lead Alec up two flights of stairs, down four long corridors, then around a corner that lead straight into the reporters office. He stopped in front of two wide glass doors with a metal plate that read ‘REPORTERS ONLY’ and turned around to face Alec.  
“This is where I leave you I’m afraid” he said before handing Alec a sheet of paper. “These are your tasks for the day. Most of them are simple. Mr Bane just wants some samples for some of our greatest works. He wants to see what you can do. Don’t let him down”.  
Alec snatched the sheet of paper from Raphael’s hand and scanned it quickly. Raphael was right, most of the tasks were quite simple. They only required Alec to write one or two synopsis about brand new designs. Alec had been doing those kind of things for his father for years, it shouldn’t be too hard. Smiling to himself, he looked up at Raphael smugly. “Thanks Raphael. That will be all”.  
The angry looking Raphael turned away without a moments hesitation, leaving Alec to enter the reporter’s office with only a sheet of paper to shield him from prying eyes. He had no idea where he was supposed to go next. The reporter’s office was quite a large room — filled with plenty of old bitter faces. Thankfully, he wasn’t left to his own devices for long. Catarina Loss — formally known as Magnus Bane’s personal assistant — wandered over with her signature welcoming grin.  
“Alec Lightwood” she greeted. “I’ve been expecting you”.  
Alec suddenly felt very guilty about being late. With the old and cranky reception lady, he couldn’t have cared less. But Catarina was so warm and gentle, Alec never ever wanted to disappoint her.  
“I’m awfully sorry for being late” he said, his voice surprisingly quiet. “It won’t happen again”.  
Catarina smiled her beautiful smile. “Of course it won’t. Follow me darling”.  
She lead Alec down the tiny aisle that split the room into two. On one side, workers were blabbering away as they typed — laughing as though they were enjoying themselves amongst friends at a pub. On the left side — the side that Alec was being directed too — the workers worked in silence. With their heads down and their hands working frantically at their keyboards, no worker dared say a word. Towards the far end of the room, still on the left side, Catarina directed Alec towards a spare desk with one computer, two pencil holders filled with black and blue pens, and a bright pink folder with his name on it.   
“This is where you’ll spend your days” she announced cheerfully. “It’s small and probably not what you expected. But the computer works very well. No lag what so ever”.  
Alec smiled. The desk was more than fine. It wasn’t too big, or too small. It was a desk that he could fit well into. Gratefully, he swung himself around so that he stood in front of the desk.   
“Thank you, Ms Loss” he said. “This will do just fine”.  
“Excellent” she gestured towards Alec’s sheet of paper listing his tasks. “You better get to work”.  
Alec nodded and took a seat at his new desk. He watched as Catarina bounced back down the aisle, chattering away to workers on the right side of the office. He didn’t know why one side of the room was bubbling with noise and excitement while his side sat in silence. It didn’t make sense…nor did it seem fair.

**

Three hours into his work and Alec had completed 5/8 tasks. He was working at a slow but steady pace. Putting every ounce of effort into his work. He made sure to elaborate when points needed elaboration and made sure to include as much detail as possible. His job was to summarise certain inventions that Mr Bane wasn’t to sure about selling. It wasn’t at all difficult. It was just very time consuming and took up a lot of his brain cells. But three hours into it and he had just passed the halfway mark. In need of a desperate break, Alec leaned back in his chair and let his head fall back behind him.   
“Tired already?” asked a cheerful voice from behind him.  
Alec spun around quickly, eyes widening as his blue eyes met his boss’ green ones. Magnus Bane looked extravagant wearing an indigo coloured suit with glitter decorating his collar and tie. He looked highly amused to be staring into Alec’s blue eyes — amused and slightly amazed.   
“I-I was just having a quick rest” Alec explained, jerking his thumb back towards his computer.   
“Oh I know” Magnus chuckled. “I’ve been watching you work for the past twenty-five minutes”.  
Alec’s eyes widened even further. “Y-you have?”.  
“Just to see your work of course” Magnus explained with the wave of his hand. “I heard you were late this morning”.  
Damn it, Alec thought sourly, he did find out. Trying his best not to look like a naughty school boy, he managed a shy smile.  
“Not going to fire me are you?” he asked. “The traffic…it was really terrible”.  
Magnus leaned forward so that his lips brushed gently against Alec’s ear, causing the boy to shiver.  
“This traffic excuse is getting a little old, Alexander” he whispered.  
Alec, not entirely comfortable with his boss’ lips being so close to his ear, nodded slowly.  
“Won’t happen again, sir” he promised. “I’ll be right on time tomorrow”.  
“I’m sure you will be” Magnus grinned, moving back to wear he stood previously. “I mean, tomorrow you won’t have to recover from a hang over”.  
Alec opened his mouth to speak, realised he had nothing to say, then closed it again. Magnus simply chuckled, staring at Alec as though he were studying an expensive piece of art.   
“It’s alright, Alexander” Magnus smiled. “No judgement from me. I’ll leave you to your work”.


	4. Invitation to Hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter four as promised :') Hope you enjoy ! I'll post chapter five if its wanted...

Alec finished work at ten minutes past four. It had been a pretty simple day. With the work load complete and delivered to Catarina Loss before his time was up. Now, he was walking home to his apartment, knowing full well not to take short cuts down dark alley ways. He took the long way home. This way consisted of passing by Gloria Jeans — the coffee shop where his sister worked from 4pm to 10pm. Glancing inside through the windows, he caught sight of Isabelle delivering coffee to a young couple towards the back of the cafe. He smiled at the sight of her. She looked stunning even with her messy bun falling apart and her make up down to a minimum. He didn’t stay for long though, he was desperate to go home and take a nap. He was too tired for his own good. Continuing down the street, he caught sight of Clary up ahead. She was holding two shopping bags, one in each hand. And she wasn’t alone. She was with her best friend Simon Lewis, who incidentally, was Isabelle’s on and off boyfriend. Currently, Alec was almost certain that Simon and Isabelle were on.   
“Alec!” Simon exclaimed as they practically ran into each other. “Nice suit man, whats the occasion?”.  
“He got the job, Simon” Clary sighed. “You know, the one I told you about this morning”.  
Simon’s eyes widened in realisation and he shook his finger in Alec’s direction. “Thats right, thats right! You now work for Magnus Bane!”.  
Alec nodded, forcing what he hoped looked like a friendly smile. He didn’t dislike Simon, no, not at all. It was just that sometimes, Simon was a little…irritably annoying. Alec was used to it by now though.  
“Today was my first day working there” Alec explained.  
“How was it?” Clary asked.  
Simon leaned closer to Alec and whispered. “How does your dad feel about you working for Bane? Doesn’t he like…hate that company? Like hate hate that company?”.  
“Work was great” Alec answered, ignoring Simon’s question. “I better leave you two to it”.  
He nodded them both a goodbye before continuing down the street. It was a relief to finally turn round a corner and see his apartment block waiting only metres ahead. He hadn’t been there in a while. And it was nice to finally be able to kick his feet up and relax. He shoved his key out of his pocket and jammed it into his door. When he entered the room, he was surprised to find that his apartment was uncharacteristically clean. He hadn’t remembered it ever being that clean. He shrugged absentmindedly and dove onto his couch, kicking his shoes off in record time and taking the opportunity to close his tired eyes. Just as he was about to drift off to sleep, his phone rang loudly from inside his pocket, jerking Alec’s eyes wide open. Groaning, he shoved his phone out of his pocket and groaned even louder when it was his father’s name flashing on his screen. He had no idea why his dad would be calling him. He doubted the famous Robert Lightwood would be calling his gay son to ask how his first day of work was. So what else could it be? After a few moments of just glaring at his phone, he lifted it up to his ear and answered.  
“Dad” he said flatly. “Is everything okay? Why are you calling?”.  
“Everything is fine, Alec” Robert said, his voice as firm as usual. “I’m just calling to let you know that the wires company is having a party tomorrow night. The whole family has been invited. You…are also invited”.  
“Well yeah” Alec said, sounding grim. “I am part of the family”.  
“But you are now working for Bane” Robert said matter of factly. “My invitation to you is only granted because you are my son”.  
Alec rolled his eyes. “Why gee thanks Dad. You’re great”.  
“Alexander” Robert began warningly. “Your attitude needs to cease”.  
“Ok Dad” Alec said, trying for a tone that didn’t let off attitude. “I’ll be at the wires party…just because I’m your son”.  
“Alec-“ Robert started, but Alec couldn’t be bothered hearing the end of it and hung up.

**

“I don’t think he meant it like that” Isabelle tried to explain, pouring herself a glass of wine in Alec’s kitchen.  
Alec — who was flopped over on his couch — scoffed. “He literally said that the whole family was invited. Then added that I too was invited…it was like he didn’t even consider me part of the family”.  
“He’s just upset” Isabelle frowned. “It would kind of suck that one of his own kids works for his greatest competitor. You have to understand that Alec”.  
Alec narrowed his eyes. “So what? He doesn’t want me to work for him but he can’t handle me working for Bane? He’s an arrogant pig who won’t admit that the only reason he dislikes me is because I’m gay”.  
“Alec” Isabelle said gently, removing herself from the kitchen so that she could move closer to her brother.   
“It’s fine” Alec said dismissively. “I’m totally used to it by now”.  
“You shouldn’t have to be” Isabelle insisted. “But listen…Alec. About the party…are you sure you want to go? There’s going to be people there that-“.  
“That will either hate me for being gay or hate me for working with Bane” Alec interrupted. “I know”.  
Isabelle sat down on the couch beside Alec, wrapping an arm around her big brother. She and Alec were close, but hardly ever affectionate. It was Isabelle who liked to comfort Alec with affection, but her brother tended to shy away from it.  
“I’m going to the party” Alec insisted. “I don’t care about what people think. Not anymore”.  
“Well I’m glad” Isabelle smiled. “But don’t ever feel like you have to prove yourself”.  
Alec glanced at her sideways. “I always have to prove myself. I mean look at me compared to you and Jace”.  
“Alec” Isabelle warned, but Alec just put his hands up in surrender.  
“Don’t worry, Isabelle” Alec said, trying to sound reassuring. “The party is going to be great. You and Simon will be the hot topic. Jace and Clary will be at the food table like usual. And me and Max will survive our way through the party”.  
“You and Max?” Isabelle asked with raised eyebrows. “I hardly doubt Max will be able to put up with you for 5 hours!”.  
Alec nudged his sister playfully. “I could say the same for you and Simon”.

**

Work the following morning was a breeze. To the old reception lady’s surprise, Alec had actually turned up to work on time. Not only that, but he looked as if he were a man on a mission. Even Raphael — as he passed Alec on the way to the reporter’s office — noticed how the young Lightwood’s eyes sparkled as if they were calculating some sort of plan. Which, Alec had to admit, was an almost completely useless plan.  
Isabelle had stayed in his apartment until midnight discussing how Robert had planned to show her and Jace off to all of his colleagues. Of course, she wasn’t telling Alec this information to make him jealous. She was telling him so that he could devise up a plan to make himself stand out. Isabelle wasn’t just good at comforting Alec, she was also good at motivating him to stand up for himself. And that was exactly what he planned to do. He wanted to make a stand. Do something that no one would expect. Do something that will shake up the arrogance that lay beneath his father’s thick head. Of course, Isabelle had intended to encourage Alec to do something that will make their father proud. But Alec had something else in mind. He wanted revenge. He wanted revenge for all those times his father made him feel weak and useless and just overall…like shit. There was only just one problem to his master plan…he hadn’t exactly made one yet.  
“Good morning, Alec” Catarina greeted as he waltzed through the two glass doors that lead him to the office.  
“Good morning, Ms Loss” Alec greeted back, flashing her a quick smile before darting towards the back of the room where his desk waited for him.  
His tasks for the day were slid under his pencil cup holder. Eight tasks, just like yesterday. But there was a little side note underneath. A note that read: ‘Fantastic job, Alexander. I’m a great fan of your work. See me in my office at 9:45. Ps: Don’t be late — Magnus Bane’. Alec glanced over at the clock, it read 9:30. Phew, he thought, I’m not running late for once. He knew that Mr Bane’s office was only a couple doors down. He didn’t have to leave just yet. He wasn’t too nervous about seeing his boss individually. The note had expressed Mr Bane’s love for his work. But Alec, being Alec, still had his doubts. When 9:40 rolled around, he decided to start making his way to Mr Bane’s office. Catarina must of known because she was at his side within seconds.  
“You saw the note then?” she asked casually, following Alec out the door.   
“I did” Alec confirmed. “This is a good thing, right? He’s calling me to his office because he liked my work right?”.  
Catarina smiled. “To be honest, Alec, I’m not sure why Mr Bane’s calling you to his office. But I’m pretty sure it’s more than just your work that he likes”.  
Alec blushed at Catarina’s statement, but did well to hide it from his face. They continued down a long corridor, remaining in a friendly sort of silence. Mr Bane’s office was only a few metres ahead of them, staring back at Alec with intensity. Catarina, still at his side, chuckled.  
“Well go on then” she urged. “He won’t be pleased if you’re late”.  
Alec pressed forward, knowing that if he didn’t move now, he probably never would. As he approached the door, he reminded himself of the party and his plan. The party was final — his plan however, was not. He honestly hoped that his meeting with Magnus would not take long. For Alec needed the rest of the day to both work and devise up a vengeance plan. He knocked on the door three times, surprised by how quickly the door swung open to reveal a well dressed Magnus Bane. It was only Alec’s second day at work, but he had grown to think of Magnus as the most fashionable person in the office.  
“So glad you made it” Magnus grinned. “Come on in”.  
Alec stepped inside, his eyes never leaving his boss. Magnus was dressed in a leopard patterned suit. A suit that Alec admittedly disliked as a whole. But on Magnus — it looked stunning.   
“Take a seat, Alexander” Magnus said, gesturing towards two chairs seated in front of his desk.  
Alec took a seat gratefully, still staring at Magnus as he walked around to sit at his desk. The way Magnus was walking…it was as though he were the hunter and Alec was his prey.  
“You look nervous” Magnus pointed out as he finally decided to take a seat. “What’s on your mind?”.  
“Nothing” Alec said quickly, far to quickly to seem like the truth. “Just, uh, stressed about tonight”.  
Magnus leaned forward in interest. “Tonight? Oh, what is happening tonight?”.  
“P-party” Alec stuttered, to distracted by Magnus’ golden eyeliner to speak properly. “I mean, uh, my dad’s company…it’s having this party and I’m supposed to be coming up with this plan and I really need to stop talking. Sorry”.  
Magnus, who had been listening to Alec’s every word, smiled. “A party, huh? I love parties. What is this plan that you speak of? If I may ask”.  
Alec was definitely not expecting Magnus to be asking so many personal questions. Not that Alec minded. He just assumed that Magnus wanted to discuss his work. Or at least something about inventions. Not about party plans of vengeance.   
“I-I wanted to make a fool out of my dad” Alec admitted, feeling slightly guilty as the words came out of his mouth. Of all people he was telling, did it really have to be his boss?  
“Oh” Magnus said, one eyebrow perking up. “And why exactly would you want to do that?”.  
Alec’s lips parted slightly as though he were about to answer. But he stopped himself, knowing that he shouldn’t just blurt out all of his problems to a man he barely knew.   
“You don’t have to answer me, Alexander” Magnus said, regaining his self control. “Forgive my nosiness”.  
Magnus often tended to trail off task. A lot. But with Alec, he just trailed right off of the track and rammed himself into a fence. He didn’t mean to intrude on his new employee’s life. There was just something about him — something that made Magnus want to know every single thing about him.   
Alec — who was staring at Magnus’ gorgeous long eyelashes — blinked himself out of a trance. Magnus’ beauty was really not helping Alec to concentrate. He was supposed to be in his boss’ office to answer work related questions. But he couldn’t help but just stare at Magnus. Even if it was just for a moment. The man was so god damn beautiful — it really wasn’t helping Alec at all.  
“But I may be able to help” Magnus went on. “I have been known to make people look a fool”.  
Alec blinked. “You’d help me? Oh wait — of course you would. You hate my Dad”.  
“Whoa whoa” Magnus said, holding up his hands in his defence. “I don’t hate your father. And even if I did, I wouldn’t help you just to get at him. I’d help you because I owe you”.  
Alec blinked in confusion. “Owe me? No you don’t owe me anything”.  
Magnus smiled and held out two pieces of paper covered in text. At first, Alec didn’t recognise any of it. But as he squinted his eyes and really focused, he realised that Magnus was holding his synopsis’ from the day before.  
“I wasn’t lying when I said I was a fan of your work” Magnus chuckled. “I feel as though I owe you for your hard work and brilliance, Alexander”.  
Alec shook his head. “I’m paid to do that, sir. And although I’m flattered you really shouldn’t have to-“.  
“I want to help you” Magnus interrupted. “You aren’t like everyone else, Alexander Lightwood. And if you need help making your dad look like a fool. I’d be more than glad to help”.

**

Magnus and Alec snuck out of work early. Well, they didn’t really sneak out. Magnus simply told Catarina he had business to do somewhere else and that he was taking Alec along with him. At first, Catarina looked sceptical, but as soon as Magnus bribed her with money, no argument came from her. Magnus told Alec that there was a cafe down the street where they could work on their master plan. Alec was a little nervous about being seen alone with his boss outside of work. But with a boss like Magnus — Alec quickly learnt that no one would pay attention to him. All eyes were on the leopard dressed Magnus. When they arrived at the Cafe Magnus was talking about, they sat all the way at the back. They both ordered a cup of coffee each, which was kind of weird for Alec since he rarely ever drank coffee.  
“So what does your father hate the most?” Magnus asked curiously, taking a sip of his coffee with a focused expression.  
“Hate most about what? About me?” Alec asked.  
Magnus shrugged. “If he…hates you. Then yes, I suppose”.  
“Well” Alec paused, trying hard not to choke on his words. “He hates that I’m…uh…he’s homophobic”.  
Magnus pursed his lips. “Ouch. That must suck. So he knows that your…?”.  
“Yeah…yes” Alec said, feeling slightly uneasy about talking about it with Magnus. “But I don’t see how that’s relevant to our plan”.  
“Oh but it is” Magnus said, a playful grin on his face. “If you make a stand…using what your father hates the most. That being your sexuality. He’ll look like the biggest fool on the planet. Now we just need something else he really hates…”.  
Alec scoffed. “Well thats easy…he hates you”.  
Magnus raised an eyebrow and pretended to look offended. “Now, you see, this is why I like you. You tell the truth without worrying about how I might feel about it”.  
“Sorry” Alec said quickly. “But he really does hate you”.  
Magnus pulled an uninterested face. “Alright. So we have two very important pieces of information. One; your father is an asshole and two; he is still an absolute asshole”.  
“Magnus” Alec sighed, but his boss only grinned. Alec stared at the grin unsurely. “What?”.  
“That’s the first time you called me by my first name” Magnus said, still grinning.  
Alec blinked in confusion. “Sorry…I just thought…I-I’m sorry”.  
“You are awfully cute, Alexander” Magnus chuckled. “It’s quite alright to call me Magnus. It is my name after all”.  
“You’re my boss” Alec pointed out.  
Magnus winked. “Not in bed, darling”.  
Alec blushed a bright red and immediately drowned himself in his coffee. The great Magnus Bane turned out to be the unstoppable flirtatious type. Great.   
“Back to the plan” he started wearily. “How is my dad’s homophobia and hatred of you going to help?”.  
Magnus smirked. “I don’t mean to invite myself or anything…but maybe I could come along to your party”.  
“Come to the party?” Alec choked. “Did you not hear anything we’ve just talked about? My dad hates you!”.  
“You’ve used the H word far to much for my liking, Alexander” Magnus said distastefully. “And yes, I do want to come to the party. It’s a great idea. I show up as your…guest and-”.  
“Guest?” Alec echoed.  
“Well yeah” Magnus said, taking a quick sip of coffee. “I mean surely your siblings have partners that they will take with them”.  
Alec nodded slowly. But he was still not seeing where Magnus was going with his crazy idea.   
“Well” Magnus began slowly. “I could be your boyfriend. Just for the night, of course. Your father would hate that. His own son dating his greatest enemy”.  
Alec wasn’t sure if he had stopped breathing or air just wasn’t able to get through. His heart was pounding and alarm bells started ringing in his head. The plan was a good one. Magnus was right. Robert would most certainly hate it if Alec turned up and announced that he was dating Magnus Bane. But for Magnus to offer such a thing so easily. Alec couldn’t catch his breath.   
“What do you say?” Magnus asked. “I’m not a terrible boyfriend. Well, some would disagree but I mean-“.  
“You really want to help?” Alec asked uncertainly.  
Magnus met Alec’s not-so-steady gaze and smiled. “Alexander…I wouldn’t have offered to help if I didn’t want to. It’s not like you wouldn’t be a good boyfriend either. It’s only for a night…and oh how I want to see Robert Lightwood’s face”.  
“Right” Alec said almost breathlessly. “Well…thank you”.  
Magnus waved a hand at him. “So when exactly is this party?”.  
“Uh…” Alec hesitated, not sure if Magnus would like the answer he was about to give. “It’s actually tonight…at seven O’clock”.  
Magnus — who was taking another sip of his coffee — almost choked. “Tonight?! Oh dear lord I have to find something to wear!”.  
Alec raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He wasn’t even sure if the idea that he and his boss had devised was a ‘good’ idea. It would certainly embarrass Robert. But was that really what Alec wanted?


	5. The Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter five :') Hope you enjoy! Thanks for all the lovely comments and kudos so far! It really means a lot!

After exchanging phone numbers, Magnus and Alec went their separate ways. Magnus — to go shopping. And Alec, to go home to his apartment and re-think his whole life before 7pm. His apartment still smelt like coconut oil — the smell that Isabelle had brought with her last night. He was glad to find his apartment so refreshing and comforting. With Isabelle’s scent flowing through the air, he no longer felt like he was estranged from his family. He dumped his things onto the kitchen counter and didn’t hesitate to pour himself a drink. Between a half empty bottle of Coke and a bottle of whisky, there was really no choice of liquid. Hesitantly, he took the bottle of coke and shut his fridge violently. He wasn’t going to risk getting himself drunk before the party. That would just be a recipe for disaster. Just as he was about to pour the coke into his favourite glass, his phone buzzed in his pocket, indicating that he just received a message. He assumed it would be Isabelle asking if he had clothes to wear for the party. But he was more than surprised when it wasn’t Isabelle who texted…it was Magnus.  
M: Hello, Alexander. I’ve just bought an extravagant suit. Don’t worry, it wasn’t that expensive. I was just wondering where we were going to meet for tonight.   
Alec knew he had forgotten to tell Magnus at least one piece of important information. There meeting place had definitely been it. At least one of them had brains. He was quick to reply, smashing his back against the counter lazily as his thumbs slapped against his screen.  
A: Hey. I was thinking we could meet just outside my apartment. I could give you the address if you like?  
M: That would be great.  
Alec wasn’t sure how much of a good idea it was to give his boss his address. But he knew that he was the one who suggested it so he couldn’t just back down.   
A: 52 Hemlock Grove, room 683.  
M: I’ll be there are 6:30. See you soon, Alexander.  
Alec slid his phone back into his pocket and closed his eyes. The plan seemed to get worse and worse after every second that passed. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be Magnus’ pretend boyfriend for the night. In fact, Magnus was far too attractive for him, it would make it seem like Alec scored well. But he was worried about how far he was going. Working for his Dad’s competition was one thing. But dating him? Robert Lightwood might not just shake it off this time. Maybe Alec will be fatherless by the end of the night.

**

When 6:30 came around, Alec was more than surprised when Magnus arrived at his apartment right on time. Dressed in a blood red suit with a matching tie, Magnus looked more handsome than ever. His jet black hair, died red at the tips, made him look a lot younger than he normally did at the office. Alec, on the other hand, didn’t look much different. He wore a plain grey coloured suit, the only colour in his outfit came from his dark blue tie. Alec suddenly felt very underdressed standing next to Magnus — it didn’t help that he couldn’t keep his hair up in the same direction.  
“Alexander…” Magnus said, his eyes travelling down the boy’s slender body. “You clean up well”.  
There was really no cleaning up involved for Alec. In his opinion, he looked exactly the same as he had the previous morning. As Magnus stood in front of him, smiling widely and looking as handsome as hell, Alec could feel his self esteem lowering all the way down to the floor. Despite this, he still felt the need to return a compliment.  
“You don’t look to bad yourself” he whispered, his cheeks burning a bright red as he said it.  
Magnus stepped aside, gesturing for Alec to step out of his apartment and into the hall. Alec just stared for a moment — his dark blue eyes blank and confused.   
“You don’t want to be late do you?” Magnus asked with a smirk.  
Alec rolled his eyes. “You know, I’m not a naturally late person. I’ll have you know that I was born before my due date. I came to the world early — ignore that. That was stupid”.  
“No no” Magnus said with a light chuckle. “That was quite interesting. Maybe the lateness comes with old age”.  
Alec stepped out the door, closing it behind him. He was standing very close to Magnus now, his boss’ red jacket lightly brushing his grey. He didn’t want to look up — didn’t want to meet the other man’s gaze. But his eyes, they moved without his permission, drawn to Magnus’ alluring green eyes. And they stared at each other for a moment. Green eyes on Blue. Red jacket on grey. Alec didn’t know what came over him, but he suddenly had the urge to-  
“Shall we go?” Magnus asked, his eyes flickering away so that they looked out into the hall.  
Alec snapped out of his trance and nodded. Soon, he and Magnus were wandering down the hall, a peaceful silence accompanying them. 

**

The wires company party was located in a large New York City Hall. The Hall belonged to the New York City council, meaning that it was very expensive and very high maintenance. Alec had only ever been there twice. Once, for Isabelle’s 21st birthday party — which Alec couldn’t really remember because he ended up passing out on the balcony. And the second time was for one of his father’s other company parties.   
When Magnus and Alec finally arrived, there were already dozens of expensive cars littering the streets. He could see his parents’ black BMW parked at the front, indicating that his family had already arrived. Nervously, he fiddled with the cuffs of his shirt, trying hard to ignore the fact that he was about to enter his father’s party with a fake boyfriend who was also his boss. He knew that the whole boyfriend thing wasn’t going to seem very believable. For reasons such as the fact that Magnus was a 10/10 and Alec was approximately around a 3/10. The fact that he’d only just met Magnus a couple of days ago. And finally, Magnus was head of the Bane company…like Alec would ever be able to date that. However, Maryse and Robert might not be so hard to convince. They believe that gay guys fall for every single guy they meet. But Isabelle and Jace, they’re going to realise what Alec was doing and spoil everything.   
“Alexander…” Magnus started cautiously. “You’re turning very white. Should I be worried?”.  
Alec stopped walking. He and Magnus were standing a few metres away from the Hall’s entrance. The doors were closed, but that didn’t stop the loud chatter from escalating outside. Magnus glanced over at the doors anxiously, his own nerves starting to kick in. But he ignored those and focused on Alec who looked as though he were about to pass out.  
“I’m fine” Alec whispered. “I’m just — I don’t think I’m ready”.  
“Do you need a minute?” Magnus asked, gently placing a hand on Alec’s shoulder.  
At Magnus’ touch, Alec flinched. He wasn’t used to anyone comforting him, yet alone a stunningly attractive man like Magnus. Of course, there was Isabelle. But she was different — she was his sister.   
“No” he said, taking a deep breath. “Lets go. It’s now or never”.  
Magnus smiled, turning around so that he faced the doors front on. “Ok, lets go shake up this partayyy”.  
The doors swung open to reveal a large room littered with tables and chairs — taken up by rich-stuck up-people who worked for Alec’s father. The room had a purple glow to it, a colour that resembled the nail polish on Magnus’ hands. There were people everywhere. Sitting down, standing up, dancing, talking. No person looked out of place. There weren’t many windows in the hall. There were two on either side of the room, and one large one sitting on the back wall. It wasn’t what Alec had remembered. Last time he was there he could have sworn there were chandeliers on the ceiling. But now, there were just small disco balls.   
“It’s nice” Magnus whispered into Alec’s ear, barely hearing his own voice over the sound of chatter.  
Alec nodded. “It’s alright…I guess”.  
“Do you see your parents?” Magnus asked.  
Alec looked around. There were so many unfamiliar faces — yet so many familiar ones. He couldn’t see his mom or dad, nor did he expect too. Maryse and Robert would be surrounded by people. They always were. To his relief, he could see Jace and Clary standing at the food table. They were both laughing and chatting away as though they were spending just another night at home. Clary looked beautiful in a long silver sparkled dress that matched her diamond earrings. Jace was all dressed up in a navy blue suit. It was strange seeing his step brother all dressed up. Alec was used to seeing Jace in sport shorts and baggy shirts.  
“I see Jace and Clary” Alec said out loud. “We should go talk to them”.  
Magnus had no idea who Jace and Clary were. But they sounded like boring teenagers with a terrible taste in fashion. Not that Magnus could judge — considering he hadn’t even met them. He didn’t even have time to say anything before Alec grabbed him by the arm and dragged him towards the very long and very tasty looking food table. While Magnus admired the food table, Alec greeted his step brother and friend.  
“Jace! Clary!” Alec called out, holding out his arms to embrace his friends.  
Clary spun around first, her red hair flowing down her back angelically.   
“Alec, oh you look so handsome” she said as she wrapped her arms around him.   
“And you look beautiful” Alec complemented as he hugged her back quickly.  
Jace stared Alec up and down suspiciously before letting off a grin. “You clean up well, Alec Lightwood. Love what you did with the hair. Oh wait — nope there’s no difference”.  
“Piss off” Alec muttered as he brought his brother into a hug. “Where’s Izzy and Max?”.  
“More importantly” Jace said, glancing over at Magnus who was now at Alec’s side. “Who’s he?”.  
Alec must of forgotten Magnus was there because he jolted at the sight of him. This earned him a low chuckle from Clary who raised her eyebrows suspiciously.  
“T-this is Magnus” Alec stammered. “Magnus this is my brother Jace and his girlfriend, Clary”.  
Magnus held out his hand to Clary first, a dashing smile on his face. Clary shook his hand without hesitation, returning him a gentle smile. Jace, however, just stared at Magnus’ outstretched hand as though it were poison.  
“Magnus…who?” he asked.  
Magnus pulled his hand back slowly. “Magnus Bane…Great name I know”.  
Clary laughed. “You mean your the Magnus Bane that runs the Bane company?”.  
“Yes, yes I am” Magnus said proudly.  
Jace whirled around on Alec. “Why have you brought Dad’s worst enemy to his party?”.  
Alec went completely blank. There was an intelligent answer to that question. However Alec, being so nervous about introducing Magnus, had completely forgotten how to function with his mouth.  
“I’m his boyfriend” Magnus said, saving Alec from his deadly moment of hesitation.  
Clary gasped and Jace looked as though he were about to fall over. Both of their eyes were wide and they were staring at Alec as if he were standing butt naked in front of them.   
“Boyfriend?” Jace echoed.  
“Boyfriend” Alec confirmed.  
He could feel his cheeks burning bright red. He wanted to turn around and run away. The only thing keeping him put was Magnus’ arm that had slithered its way around his waist. He supposed it was just Magnus’ way of emphasising the fact that they were ‘dating’.   
“Well” Clary said, forcing a smile in Magnus’ direction. “It’s lovely to meet you. But Jace and I…we really have to go”.  
Magnus nodded politely and watched as the red head dragged the blondie across the room with a determined expression. He turned around to look at Alec, only to find that the boy was burning a bright, bright red.  
“Did I do okay?” Magnus asked.  
Alec stared at him with wide eyes. “Yeah…yeah you did great. I’m the one who stuffed up”.  
“No” Magnus said with a small smile. “You just got all cute and quiet”.  
Alec blushed. “I need to find Isabelle”.  
“Your sister, right?” Magnus asked — Alec nodded.   
Alec looked around the room, skimming past bald heads and snobby women. He could see Jace and Clary, chattering away on the other side of the room, Jace looking eerily distressed. But there was no sign of his parents or Isabelle. Alec even tried looking for the nerdy looking Simon who should have been easy to spot in the crowd. But there was no sign of anyone he knew. While Alec looked for his family, Magnus munched away on cheese and crackers, trying not to chew loudly. He noticed two men standing a few metres in front of him, glaring. Clearly they knew who he was and were not happy to see him. Smirking, he nudged Alec on the shoulder lightly.  
“Check out those guys” he said, snickering. “You know ‘em?”.  
Alec followed Magnus’ playful gaze and stared at the two men glaring back at them. Both men were his father’s work mates. The oldest of the two — dressed in a similar suit to Alec’s — was one of Robert Lightwood’s closest friends. The younger one — glued to a bottle of alcohol — was the older man’s son. He wasn’t much older than Alec, maybe by three or four years. Alec met him once and it hadn’t been a pleasant experience.  
“Sort of” Alec sighed. “They are just friends of my dad’s. They are pretty boring and over dramatic”.  
Magnus snorted. “Over dramatic? They can’t be more dramatic than me! Look at their clothes!”.  
Alec laughed. “Right, sorry. You are the over dramatic one”.  
“That I am, Alexander” Magnus smirked. “Shall we go introduce ourselves? They can’t seem to take their eyes off of us”.  
Alec rolled his eyes. “They probably recognise you. And seeing you — with me. Well…I can only imagine what they are thinking”.  
“I hope its something scandalous” Magnus chuckled, starting off towards the two men.  
Alec’s eyes widened and he ran after Magnus. He didn’t have time to stop him though, because he and Magnus were now standing right in front of the two men. Alec couldn’t remember their names, but he was almost certain that the younger one started with a G.   
“Hi there” Magnus greeted. “I’m Magnus B-“.  
“Bane” the older one interrupted. “Yeah, we know. I’m Philip and this is my son George. Alec should know”.  
Alec swallowed hard as the two men glared in his direction. Magnus tried his best at a friendly smile. He wasn’t offended by the distain in the two men’s voices. He was more concerned with the fact that they were glaring at Alec as if they were about to eat him whole.  
“Is there a reason why you two dashing men were staring at my boyfriend and I?” he asked lightly.  
Boyfriend. Alec let his eyes fall shut and the darkness engulf him. It was one thing lying to Jace and Clary about Magnus. But now Magnus was telling two complete strangers about the relationship as if it were real. Now, Alec knew for a fact that Philip and George were homophobic. That was probably why they had been glaring at Alec before hand. Robert never told many people about Alec’s sexuality — most of his friends still thought he was just another heterosexual. But there was no doubt that Robert would have told Philip and George so that they could all vent in disgust together.   
“Boyfriend?” George asked, his eyebrows raised in disgust. “Thought you’d bow your head in shame, Lightwood”.  
“Careful” Magnus said, his normally amused green eyes darkening. “Don’t want to upset me, do you?”.  
“My son couldn’t care less about your feelings” Philip snarled. “Bloody faggots”.  
Magnus grabbed Philip by the collar and flung him backwards. The older man cried out in surprise and collapsed to the ground with a clang. Two women who’d been standing not to far behind, looked up in surprise, their eyes darting from the fallen man to Magnus within seconds.   
“I said be careful” Magnus spat, shoving George backwards before the younger man could leap to his father’s defence.  
Alec stared in shock as Magnus shoved his way across the hall. He could only stare — eyes wide and mouth partly open. It wasn’t until a light tap on the shoulder that he was even able to think again. He whirled around quickly, relief washing over him as he stared into his sister’s familiar blue eyes. They greeted each other with a hug — a hug that meant so much more to Alec than words ever could.  
“Jace and Clary said you have a boyfriend” Isabelle whispered as she wrapped her arms around her big brother. “Is that-Is that true?”.  
Alec didn’t want to lie to his sister. He didn’t want to lie to anyone. But in order for his revenge plan to work, everyone had to think that Magnus Bane was his boyfriend. Even Isabelle.  
“Yeah, you wouldn’t believe who it is” Alec said with a forced smile.  
Isabelle raised her eyebrows, clearly waiting for Alec to spill the beans. George and Philip — who had now returned to their hateful bickering — stepped forward into Isabelle’s line of vision.  
“Yeah you won’t believe it” George snarled. “He’s dating Magnus Bane. Your dad’s number one competitor”.  
Isabelle’s arms had never jerked away from Alec so fast. Magnus Bane. She was almost certain that her heart had stopped beating for those first few moments of absorbing the information she just received. Magnus Bane was Alec’s boyfriend. Her big brother was dating one of the most powerful men in New York. Her big brother was dating their father’s number one competitor. She didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. To cry would mean she didn’t approve of Alec’s relationship. Which Isabelle couldn’t commit to because she hadn’t even met Magnus Bane. And to laugh would mean that she just saw it all as a joke. So she just stared into her brother’s blue eyes, trying so hard not to give away any of her thoughts.   
“Izzy” Alec whispered, his voice almost sounding pleading. “Please don’t be angry”.  
“Angry?” Isabelle laughed, almost choking on her own words. “Why would I be angry? Date who you want, Alec. I’m not one to judge. Where is he? Wait — did you bring him tonight? Oh Alec”.  
Alec reached out to grab his sister’s hands — but Isabelle jerked away.   
“He stormed off after-” Alec jerked his head towards Philip and George. “After those douche bags called him a faggot. That reminds me — I should probably go find him”.  
He went to move away, his mind racing. But this time, Isabelle reached out to grab Alec’s hands. His hands were shaking in hers — a sensation that reminded Isabelle of one of Alec’s darkest times in his life. But she shook the thought off quickly, reminding herself of the pressing matter that her whole family now faced.  
“Alec” she said, gentle but firmly. “You and Magnus Bane need to leave before Mom and Dad find out”.  
It was Alec’s turn to jerk away from his sister. “No, Iz. I’m allowed to have my partner here just like you and Jace are allowed to have yours”.  
“Oh come on, Alec!” Isabelle snapped. “You and Magnus aren’t dating. You just met the guy! Do you think I’m so stupid that I wouldn’t know what you’re doing!”.  
Alec shrugged. “You’re stupid enough to date Simon Lewis”.  
Isabelle slapped him across the face — something she thought she’d never have to do. Alec, to surprised to even blink, stepped away from her. Of all people he had to tell, he had been the most nervous about telling Isabelle. He never actually thought they’d have an argument about it though. He expected a few doubtful words but never a slap across the face. Angrily, he stormed through the crowd, ignoring his sister’s shouts of protest. People stepped out of the way as he stomped past, his dark blue eyes scanning the crowd for Magnus Bane. Angry and hurt, he just wanted to get the whole plan over and done with. To his surprise, Maryse and Robert Lightwood were only a few metres ahead, laughing and chatting away with four of their colleagues. Anger flared up in his eyes and all he wanted to do was make everyone else feel how he felt. Hurt, broken, disgusting — a freak.  
“You look like you’re about to shoot someone” Magnus observed as he came up to stand beside Alec.  
Alec jumped in surprise. “Luckily for everyone in this room, I don’t own a gun”.  
“What happened? Did those two idiots say something to you?” Magnus asked.  
Alec shook his head. “No. Worse. My little sister slapped me across the face”.  
“Ouch” Magnus said, tilting his head to the side sympathetically. “So…what about the plan? I mean, I think we found your parents. Should we do it now or…?”.  
Alec glanced around the room. There were so many people — so many people. The purple glow in the room came from the bright lights surrounding the DJ. The DJ. Alec blinked. Since when did his dad need a DJ at one of his parties. There were two microphones lying in plain sight. And suddenly…Alec had the most craziest…most brilliant idea ever.  
“Magnus” Alec said, a strange and unfamiliar smile on his face. “I have an even better idea”.  
He grabbed Magnus by the arm and dragged him towards the two microphones in the DJ’s possession. They passed by Simon and Clary who were playing a game of truth or truth. Jace and Isabelle were no where in sight. Magnus had no idea what Alec was planning — but he decided that he preferred the plan that they had discussed in the cafe. Alec snatched one of the microphones from out of the DJ’s possession and found a small platform that he and Magnus could stand on. Magnus, still very very confused, stared at Alec with wide eyes.  
“Alexander…why are you holding a microphone?” he asked nervously.  
Alec stared out into the crowd. No one had seemed to notice that he and Magnus were standing on a platform, nor did anyone notice that the music produced by the DJ had died down slightly. Everyone was too caught up in their own conversations — laughing and smiling — nothing seemed to worry them. Alec caught sight of his mom and dad. Robert was smiling, actually smiling. And Maryse looked like she was explaining something very important to two of her colleagues. Alec narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips. Slowly, he lifted the microphone towards his lips, his hand trembling slightly as he did so.   
“Alexander…” Magnus started anxiously. “What are you doing?”.  
Alec ignored him, still lifting the microphone towards his lips. His mind was telling him to stop — telling him that he was insane and mentally unstable. But the adrenaline that ran through him believed otherwise. The microphone was now only centimetres away from his lips, giving Alec the power to say anything he wanted to. He could say anything — anything. And the whole room, every single person, would hear what he had to say. It was the perfect opportunity…and Alec was going to take it.   
“Hey!” he said, his voice loud and clear. “I have an announcement to make!”.


	6. The Reveal

The whole room fell silent. The DJ’s music ceased and every single person in the room whirled around to face the new source of sound. Magnus, standing beside Alec with wide eyes, swallowed hard. It wasn’t that he hated the attention, in fact, he normally fought for it. But now — with enemy eyes staring at both him and the young Lightwood — he suddenly felt like he was in a very bad dream. He wanted to grab Alec by the arm and run away. But as he stared at Alec, observing how the boy’s eyes narrowed and his shoulders tensed, he decided that he had to let Alec do what he had to do.   
“I-I uh I’m uh” Alec’s voice trembled through the microphone.  
The confidence he had had less than a minute ago was no longer there. He could feel all eyes on him — burning and tearing into his skin. Towards the back of the room, his parents stood — eyes wide and mouths open. He could see his mother’s worried expression. She looked as though she were about to lurch forward, reach out, and throw him off of the platform. But his father — he looked worse. If looks could kill, the look Robert was giving him would have shot Alec down within seconds.   
“I’d just like to let y-you all know t-that I uh I-I’m” he trailed off again, his hands trembling at his sides.  
There were words begging to be spoken. But Alec just couldn’t form them without a ridiculous stutter. Nor could he concentrate when his parents — along with everyone else in the room — were giving him unkind glares. Philip and George, who were now smirking distastefully, stepped into Alec’s line of vision. George then began to provoke Alec by mouthing the words ‘Poor little faggot can’t speak’. That helped Alec regain his confidence.  
“My name is Alec Lightwood” he announced. “I’m Robert Lightwood’s son. Most of you would already know that, some of you probably only know of Jace, Isabelle and Max. That’s because my Dad hates me”.  
His words rolled off of his tongue without a moments hesitation. They came out clear, controlled and intelligible. He didn’t sound like the stuttering mess he had only sounded like seconds before hand. It seemed as though he needed anger and rage to carry him through the world. George’s helpful slurs had definitely assisted.   
“Robert Lightwood isn’t the professional man you know him to be” Alec continued. “Oh no. He may seem fair and intelligible in the work place. But if I’m being honest with you, that man has ruined my life”.  
It seemed unfair to lay all the blame on Robert. It was George who called him a faggot and it was Isabelle who slapped him across the face. But Alec would always blame Robert for how he felt inside. Because of his dad, he’s never been able to feel proud, comfortable or like he belonged. Even before he revealed his sexuality, he’d always just been a disappointment.   
“He’s judgemental, cruel and overcritical” he went on. “He’s always targeted me in particular. Why? I’ve always asked myself that question. But Mr Robert Lightwood has always blamed it on my sexuality. You guessed it, I’m gay”.  
Alec avoided making eye contact with his parents, so he turned his attention onto the stunned members of the crowd. An older couple standing only metres away from the platform looked confused, overwhelmed and a little upset. It was clear they assumed Alec was drunk. But Alec wasn’t drunk. He was high on anger and hurt.  
“Alec” Magnus whispered gently, reaching out to put a hand on his young employee’s shoulder. “You don’t need to do this. Lets just get down from here and go”.  
“No!” Alec snapped at him, the microphone still close to his lips. “I have to do this!”.  
He glared out into the crowd, his eyes slow to greet his sister’s. Isabelle was standing beside Jace, her eyes wide and her hand clutched around Jace’s. She looked hurt and confused, embarrassment written all over her face. It was the same with Jace. His eyes were wide and his eyebrows furrowed. He looked angry and embarrassed — ashamed to be associated with Alec in any way. Alec couldn’t take it — he couldn’t take any of it.   
“I’ve never been good enough” he said, his voice cracking. “I’ve always been the disappointment. The kid who stood in the shadow of his younger siblings, the kid who couldn’t stick up for himself…the kid who was tainted by the devil and wouldn’t be able to go to heaven because I was the born the way I am. Do any of you know what that feels like?!”.  
No one in the crowd said a word. A few people exchanged weary glances. But not one person said a word. Even Philip and George looked speechless. Magnus felt himself shrink away into the darkness. He hadn’t realised Alec — the stunningly gorgeous boy with the blue eyes — had felt so badly about himself. He always knew he was attracted to things that were broken — but he never would have thought Alec was so broken himself.   
“Alexander” he whispered as gently as possible. “Come on, mate. Lets just go”.  
Alec had only ever broken down once before. He was normally an expert at keeping his emotions to himself. But tonight — he was an open book. He’d broken down once before in front of Isabelle. He was fourteen, young and unaware of the shattering world around him. He had had the worst day in the history of the world. He’d failed three exams, got into four pointless arguments and staggered home with a broken wrist. Of course, he hadn’t planned to tell anyone about what happened, but Isabelle had caught him stumbling upstairs with a wave of tears streaming down his face. It must have really stunned Izzy to have seen her brother cry — for Alec had never dared shed a tear in front of her. She followed him upstairs and into his room — begging him to let her help him. Alec had started off telling her to go away. But eventually, he gave up and collapsed to the ground. He had cried — loud and messily. He began to tell Isabelle about the exams, the arguments — about how they had been about his pointless crush on the captain of the football team. He revealed everything. And that had been the first — and what Alec hoped to be the last — time he ever broke down. But tonight — with his eyes stinging with tears — he could slowly feel himself being torn apart.   
“None of you know what it feels like” Alec whispered now, his eyes clouded with tears. “You’ve all lived privileged lives — nothing has ever scared you. You’ve all probably got a rich daddy who bought you everything you asked for. None of you have ever been neglected. None of you have been pushed around like you mean nothing. And it hurts”.  
He lifted his sleeve up to his face and wiped away the tears that rolled down his cheek.   
“It hurts” he choked. “It FUCKING HURTS!”.  
Magnus stepped forward and pulled Alec away — snatching the microphone out of the boy’s hands. He half carried — half dragged Alec off of the platform. The whole room bursted into chatter — a loud buzzing sound that burned through Alec’s ear drums. And he cried. Clutching onto Magnus like a small child, he cried. Magnus fell to the floor, his back smashing against the wall as his body slid to the ground. Alec fell into his arms, his head smashing into Magnus’ warm chest. His tears soaked into Magnus’ blazer, but Magnus didn’t mind. He wrapped an arm around Alec’s shoulder and whispered soothing words until the blonde boy — Jace — and Alec’s sister Isabelle arrived in a fit of worry.   
“Alec! Alec!” Isabelle cried, dropping onto her knees as she wrapped her arms around her brother in worry.  
Alec jerked away from his sister, stifling his cries. “Don’t touch me! Leave me alone!”.  
“Alec please-“ Isabelle began, but Alec was on his feet before she could finish.  
“I said leave me alone!” he snapped, backing away from them all as he ran towards the door.  
Isabelle went to go after him, but Jace grabbed her by the arm to stop her. His golden eyes were steady, but they held fear and concern.  
“Let him go” he whispered. “He won’t want anyone — especially you — to see him like this”.  
“It’s to late for that” Isabelle hissed, tears rolling down her cheeks. “I need to go after him! You don’t understand — he won’t be thinking straight and he’ll-“.  
“Shhh” Jace soothed, pulling his step sister into a hug. “You stay here. I’ll go after him”.  
“But Jace-“ Isabelle started, but Jace had pulled away and was heading out the door.  
Magnus watched — his green eyes bowed in sorrow. Isabelle whirled around to face him, tears still streaming down her face. She opened her mouth to snap at him — tell him how foolish he was to let Alec speak in front of all those people. But as she stared at him, watching as he pursed his lips and bowed his head, she realised he was not the one to blame.   
“You’re Magnus Bane?” she asked, although it sounded more like a statement.  
He raised his head slowly. “Yes, I am. You must be Isabelle”.  
“I am” she said, wiping at her tears furiously.  
“I’m sorry about that” he said gently.  
“It’s not your fault” she sighed. “I must thank you, though”.  
He blinked in confusion. “Thank me?”.  
“You pulled him away” she explained. “If you didn’t — who knows what would have happened”.  
He looked down at the ground sadly. “I feel guilty for this whole thing. I told him I would help make his father — your father — look like a fool. I didn’t know it would end like this”.  
Isabelle placed a gentle hand on Magnus’ shoulder, trying for a gentle smile. She didn’t have to say anything, for Magnus knew he’d already been forgiven.

**

“Alec!” Jace called out into the street. “Alec, where are you?! Let me take you home!”.  
Jace patrolled the streets surrounding the hall. Alec couldn’t have gone far without a car, he would have had to disappear on foot. It was dark and hard to see, Jace knew that his brother would not travel far in the dark.   
“Alec!” he called out again. “Alec this is ridiculous! Where are you?!”.  
He walked a little further, heading towards an old abandoned church that was now known for housing a bunch of homeless people. Sitting on the front steps, was Alec, his head buried into his trembling hands. Jace ran over, quick to be at his brother’s side. At first, he didn’t say a word. Alec wasn’t crying anymore, he was trembling in silence, every part of his body shaking unsteadily. Jace had never seen Alec look so vulnerable. Sure, he’d seen Alec being punched to the floor, held by an angry fist. But this — this was something different altogether. Alec wasn’t being beaten up by some bully — he was being beaten up by himself.   
“Alec” he said gently, careful not to startle him. “Talk to me, buddy. What happened back there?”.  
Alec lifted his head slowly, revealing tear stained cheeks and blood shot eyes. He looked as though he stepped out of a horror movie — a zombie movie. The fact that his hair was sticking up in all different directions didn’t help either.   
“I don’t know” he whispered, his voice dangerously soft. “I-I broke down. I-I’m sorry”.  
Jace shook his head quickly. “Don’t apologise. Not to me. Are you okay? What you said-“.  
“Was a broken man talking” Alec finished. “It meant nothing”.  
“It meant something” Jace said. “You never told me that you felt that way”.  
Alec waved a hand at Jace, trying for a disregarding smile. But his mouth could not shape a grin — instead he just frowned into the darkness. Jace let out a soft sigh and wrapped an arm around his brother. He thought it strange to be comforting Alec. Defending Alec in a fight — that was normal. But actually sitting down and comforting Alec — it was strange and unfamiliar.   
“I’m sorry” Alec said again, his voice cracking. “I’m so stupid”.  
Jace shook his head and looked down into his brother’s blue eyes. “You’re not stupid, Alec. An idiot, maybe. But not stupid. That name is rewarded to me”.  
“Well thats true” Alec said with a small smile. “I’d almost forgotten”.  
Jace let out a laugh and pulled his brother closer — taking the time to feel the moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this Chapter Six! I'm sorry if its not that well written or what people were hoping for! I've been real busy trying to finish school work before my first day back at school tomorrow so I hope it's okay. I'll post Chapter Seven tomorrow if you guys still want more ! Let me know :')


	7. Breaking Walls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Chapter 7 :') Thanks again for all the kudos and comments! It really means a lot !

Alec hadn’t shown up at work for the rest of the week. This wouldn’t have worried Magnus if Alec had simply texted to say he was sick — or tired. But everyday when Magnus came to work and Alec wasn’t there — was another day of worry and paranoia. After the whole incident at the party, Magnus wasn’t sure if he’d ever see Alec again. When he left the party, he’d been informed that Jace had found Alec and they were both heading home. But since then, Magnus hadn’t heard anything. Now — on a boring Friday morning — as he sat down in his office, he was filled with all thoughts of Alec. He could still see him at the back of his mind — crying and clutching onto him — he couldn’t get it out of his head. When the door to his office swung open to reveal his assistant Catarina Loss, he was snapped back to reality and his overloading piles of work.  
“Oh, Magnus” Catarina sighed as she shut the door behind her. “Why on earth do you look so miserable?”.  
“Miserable?” Magnus asked, trying for an offended face. “I don’t look miserable! I’m the happiest person alive! I take your observations as an insult”.  
Catarina raised an eyebrow and plopped herself into a chair in front of Magnus’ desk. There was no fooling Ms Catarina Loss. She knew Magnus better than anyone. And the way Magnus had been acting for the past week — it wasn’t like him at all. Something had happened, something that he wasn’t prepared to tell her about. She had a feeling it had something to do with the Lightwood boy, for he hadn’t shown up to work for the rest of the week.   
“Magnus” she said irritably. “You can’t shy away from the truth. I know for a fact that something is wrong”.  
Magnus leaned forward in his chair and pressed his chin against his palm. “You know for a fact that something is wrong? Catarina, dear…you are not a mind reader. Which is a relief. I can’t imagine what-“.  
“Enough with the jokes” Catarina interrupted, her voice suddenly firm. “What happened to Alec?”.  
Magnus’ eyes flickered down towards the table and it all suddenly became clear. Catarina was right. The reason behind Magnus’ misery had to with the boy, Alexander Lightwood.   
“Ah, I see” Catarina said with a sad smile. “I was right. You are hiding something. Tell me, Magnus. Why hasn’t Alec Lightwood shown up at work? I need a reason…or we’ll have to sack him”.  
“Don’t sack him” Magnus sighed, his eyes still fixed on the table. “He’s feeling unwell, that is all”.  
“Really?” Catarina asked. “Has he called you personally? Because Arial hasn’t received anything and-“.  
“Please, cat” Magnus begged quietly. “Don’t nag at me about this”.  
Catarina raised an eyebrow. “Nag at you? Magnus I shouldn’t have to! I’m your best friend! All I want is to be able to help you. And don’t say you don’t need help because you’ve been miserable this whole week”.  
Magnus looked up at his friend — surprise evident in his bright green eyes. He hadn’t expected Catarina to care so much. Of course, he knew they were best friends. But he hadn’t expected Catarina to care so much that she noticed when he was miserable. It was nice to know that someone cared.  
“I’m sorry” he said finally. And he meant it. “I just — you’re right. It has something to do with Alec. But it isn’t my problem to share. Something happened and I — I can’t get it out of my head”.  
Catarina nodded slowly, absorbing the little information she just received. She understood if Magnus couldn’t tell her something — maybe it was personal in Alec’s department. But there was one question she had to ask, one that she found herself asking to many times to count.  
“You and Alec aren’t…a thing are you?” she asked.  
Magnus’ eyes widened and he shook his head. “No! No…He’s just a…I don’t know. But I do like him”.  
“Of course you do” Catarina smiled. “He’s just your type. Dark hair, blue eyed, quiet and shy”.  
Magnus let out a small laugh. “I don’t always go for the quiet ones”.  
“Oh yeah thats right” Catarina said — grinning. “Remember Camille”.  
Magnus hung his head in shame.

**

“I don’t need babysitting” Alec said as he let Isabelle into his very messy apartment. “And don’t you have work? Or yoga class? Or something…?”.  
Isabelle rolled her eyes and dumped herself onto Alec’s couch. “No I don’t have anything to do, Alec. And don’t you have work? You can’t just hide in your apartment all day”.  
“I’m not hiding” Alec insisted. “And I’m pretty sure I’m fired anyway”.  
Isabelle pulled Alec down to sit beside her. “You know, I never really apologised for slapping you”.  
“You don’t need to” Alec said with a shrug. “I deserved it. I was being a douche”.  
“You were” Isabelle agreed. “But I shouldn’t have slapped you”.  
Alec lay his head back onto his pillow and closed his eyes. He had spent the past week just trying to forget about the stupid wires party. He hadn’t heard anything from his mom or dad, which was a relief. But Jace and Isabelle had been calling and dropping in almost everyday. Their presence only reminded him of his big revelation to the world. Well not the world…just everyone important.   
“Are you ever going to apologise to Mom and Dad?” Isabelle asked quietly.  
“Of course I am” Alec answered surprisingly calmly. “Just…maybe…on my death bed”.  
Isabelle rolled her eyes. “You’re such a wimp”.  
“I know” Alec grinned. “But at least I’ll be the wimp that survives the zombie apocalypse”.  
“What does that have to do with anything?” Isabelle asked. “You sound like Simon”.  
Alec nudged his sister in the ribs playfully. “To far Isabelle! You’ve gone to far with your incessant need to insult me!”.  
“Really?” Isabelle giggled, shoving her brother away from her. “How much further could I possibly go?”.

**

Magnus had spent three hours staring at his blank pages document. Three hours of intense staring and not a single ounce of work complete. He couldn’t help but dig deep inside his head and re-visit the memory of Alec crying in his arms. It was such an emotional memory — Magnus shut his eyes in the hopes of shutting it out. He couldn’t explain the way he felt about Alec. At first, he just thought the boy was hot. But now — he felt something deeper. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone — sighing at the 0 messages he received. It wasn’t that he expected a message from Alec, it was just that he wanted to hear from him, know that he was okay. He stared at Alec’s phone number — the number that would lead him straight to the blue eyed boy. But Magnus only switched off his phone, not wanting to be tempted to do something desperate and foolish. Just as he was about to return to staring at his blank pages document, Catarina re-entered his office, looking tired and over worked.  
“There’s someone here to see you” she said, her face very serious.  
Magnus — thinking it was Alec — stood up quickly. But when Catarina stepped aside, it wasn’t Alec waiting to see him. Instead, it was Alec’s father, Mr Robert Lightwood.  
“Ah, Mr Lightwood” Magnus greeted, slightly disappointed. “Please…come on in”.  
Robert nodded a thank you to Catarina before stepping inside, his dark eyes resting on Magnus coldly. There was no friendliness or politeness — just out right bitterness. Magnus did his best to remain calm, slowly lowering himself back down into the comfort of his chair. Robert remained standing with his arms crossed angrily over his chest. Neither of them said a word — Magnus was beginning to wonder if Robert came just to have a staring contest. Eventually, the silence became to much and Magnus opened his mouth to speak.  
“Should I say something first? Or should you?” he asked unsurely — trying not to come across as sarcastic.  
Robert narrowed his eyes further. “Why were you at my company party the other night?”.  
“I was invited” Magnus said simply.  
“No, you were not” Robert growled.  
“Yes, I was” Magnus said a little more firmly. “Your son, Alexander, invited me”.  
At the mention of his son, Robert flinched. Magnus felt a little bad for getting Alec involved — but there was no denying the fact that Alec was the centre of the issue.  
“Why did he invite you?” Robert asked through gritted teeth. “He didn’t need you there to upset me”.  
Magnus forced a cold laugh. “I know right! He seemed to do that well enough on his own!”.  
Robert lunged forward and smashed his fist down onto Magnus’ desk — missing Magnus’ face by a couple of centimetres. Magnus didn’t flinch though, he didn’t even blink. He looked up into Robert’s furious blue eyes and smiled a cold smile.   
“Anger issues, Mr Lightwood” Magnus said in a challenging tone. “I feel like we’ve gotten to know each other a whole lot better”.  
“You know nothing about me!” Robert snapped, pulling himself away from the desk. “Or about my son!”.  
Magnus shrugged and leaned back in his chair. It wasn’t to hard to act like he didn’t care — because in some ways — he didn’t. But the fact that Robert was Alec’s dad kind of made Magnus think twice about the words coming out of his mouth.   
“Mr Lightwood…why are you here?” he asked less provokingly.  
Robert composed himself quickly and glared at Magnus. “I’m here because I want you to fire my son”.  
Magnus wanted to tell Robert that that wouldn’t be a problem — that Alec hadn’t been turning up to work anyway. But he also wanted to tell Robert that Alec was a very hard worker and that he couldn’t afford to just sack him because his daddy felt like it. But the words he did eventually say — were not what he expected.  
“Why? Do you hate your son so much that you want him jobless?” the question itself wasn’t what surprised him — it was the way he asked it. It was like he was asking a question that could define the world as he knew it. It was like he was asking a question worth so many answers.  
“I do not hate Alec” Robert replied, his eyes still narrowed. “But I don’t want him working for you”.  
“Because I’m your arch enemy?” Magnus asked with a tiresome roll of the eyes.   
“No. It’s because I know what kind of filth you are, Bane” Robert snarled. “And I don’t want you anywhere near my son”.  
Magnus flinched at Robert’s words. They hung in the air — floating between them — unable to completely ingest themselves into Magnus’ understanding.   
“Thank you for those kind words” he said sarcastically. “Now please get out of my office before I call security”.  
Robert opened his mouth to speak, but Magnus’ hand shot up to silence him. Normally, Magnus would have loved to have spent hours arguing with Robert Lightwood. But with the word ‘filth’ still stuck in his head, he no longer wanted to show off with his sarcastic remarks. Robert did eventually leave the office — muttering distasteful words under his breath. When the door slammed shut and Magnus was left completely alone, he buried his head in his hands and shut everything out of his mind. Filth. It was strange how one word could cause so much pain. Filth. The words stung like ice — biting into his flesh and tearing at his skin. Magnus wasn’t the type to take things to heart. But that one word — filth — it hurt.


	8. Little Less Conversation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this updates a little late...I just finished my homework which was just ugh. But anyway, here's chapter Eight! I know I've really been dragging this out but I've only ever written long novels so yeah. I hope you're enjoying it because I love writing it!

Saturday mornings had never really existed for Alec. Ever since he was a kid, he’d stay up all night on the Friday, and wake up at approximately 2pm the next day. Nothing really changed when he approached adult hood. It was 1:48pm when Alec finally awoke to the sound of New York’s tiresome traffic. He and Isabelle had spent the night mucking around and drinking. She had left around 2am — something about being home before anyone noticed she was gone. Alec missed his sister now as he crawled out of bed, groaning as the sunlight pierced through his window and into his room. He hated the sun, but he liked the warmth. It was a love hate relationship. Dressed in an old football shirt and grey track pants, he waddled into his living room, more than surprised to see Jace lounging around on his couch.   
“Dude!” Alec gasped, running his fingers through his hair distractedly. “How’d you get in here?”.  
Jace held up the spare keys that Alec had originally given to Isabelle. “Found these lyin’ around and thought why not? Besides, Clary completely ditched me for Simon and Isabelle is taking Max to soccer practice”.  
“You should have gone with him” Alec sighed, continuing his way towards the kitchen. “You know how Max likes to show off when you’re watching”.  
Jace pushed himself up off of the couch and followed his brother into the kitchen. Alec switched the kettle on and snatched a small mug from out of the dish rack. Jace watched him curiously — taking the time to study Alec’s behaviour. But his brother was acting like his normal tired self, nothing unusual about Alec groaning at the boiling kettle, telling it to boil faster. That was a tired Alec for you. When the kettle did finally boil, Alec made himself a hot chocolate without offering any to the expectant Jace.  
“So…what are you doing today?” Jace asked curiously, leaning back against the counter.  
Alec leant back against his cupboards, sipping from his cup slowly. “I haven’t really planned anything. Thought I’d catch up on some Game of Thrones. Just a lazy day for me”.  
“Game of Thrones?” Jace asked with raised eyebrows. “Simon and Clary won’t shut up about that show”.  
Alec smirked. “It’s good. I don’t know if its your type of thing though”.  
“I don’t really care for games around thrones” Jace said with the wave of his hand. “Can’t believe you watch that shit. You…of all people”.  
“Like I said, its good” Alec shrugged. “What do you want me to watch? Keeping up with the Kardashians?”.  
Jace pointed a finger at his brother accusingly. “That is a good show, man! They’re all hot as hell!”.  
“I can’t believe you have a crush on Kim!” Alec laughed. “She’s so self obsessed”.  
“So is Magnus Bane” Jace pointed out.   
Alec’s grin faded quickly and he slowly placed his mug down onto the counter. He hadn’t exactly told Jace about the whole “fake boyfriend” thing yet. He’d just hoped that his brother would figure it out on his own. But Jace was never one to observe his surroundings properly. Jace, noticing Alec’s sudden silence, blinked in confusion.  
“What is it?” he asked. “I’m sorry if I offended you, I’m only kidding. I’m sure he’s a great boyfriend”.  
“He’s not my boyfriend” Alec sighed.  
Jace pushed himself off of the counter so that he could stand up straight. “What?! You broke up already?!”.  
“No…” Alec said tiredly, his eyes travelling down towards the white kitchen tiles. “He was never my boyfriend to begin with. It was a lie. It was all part of some plan to upset dad. But well, turns out I never really needed him in the first place”.  
Jace blinked — clearly confused. He stared at Alec unsurely, searching his brother’s face for any sign of trickery. But Alec looked dead serious — with his eyes glaring down onto the floor.   
“Well…” he started hesitantly. “You are a good liar”.  
Alec looked up. “You’re not mad?”.  
“Not at all” Jace said with a small smile. “I didn’t actually think you could score that well”.  
Alec rolled his eyes. “He has a strange sense of fashion…”.  
“But you like him, hm?” Jace smirked.  
“What?” Alec shook his head. “He’s my boss”.  
“Yeah, so?” Jace asked with a chuckle. “He clearly likes you if he was willing to help you in your pointless crusade”.   
Alec shrugged. “He did it because he felt like he owed me. Nothing more…”.  
“My god, you really have no idea” Jace said, stepping forward so that he could slap Alec over the head.  
Alec gasped. “What was that for?”.  
“I’m trying to get your brain working!” Jace laughed. “How could you not see?! He was undressing you with his eyes all night, bro! God, you have to call him! You have his number right?”.  
Alec shook his head. “Nope, nope and nope”.  
“You do have his number!” Jace shouted with a ridiculous grin. “Dude, call him!”.  
Alec side-stepped Jace and hurried out of the kitchen — ignoring his brother’s attempts to reach his phone. Jace wasn’t known for letting things drop easily. So Alec knew that throughout the day, Jace would continuously try and get Alec to call Magnus.   
“Come on” Jace taunted. “What’s the worst that could happen?”.  
“Oh I don’t know…” Alec said sarcastically. “Maybe I screw up and embarrass myself”.  
Jace raised an eyebrow. “At least call to apologise. Surely that can’t be too embarrassing”.  
Alec thought for a moment. Jace had a point — he did need to call Magnus and apologise. The outburst at the party couldn’t have been a very fun experience for the head of Bane. Not to mention the fact that he hadn’t shown up to work for about a week. Wow, he thought sourly, I have a lot to apologise for. Slowly, as he fumbled for his phone, he thought about what he would say. Jace watched him with a mischievous grin, nodding encouragingly as Alec began to dial Magnus’ number. 

**

Magnus had been lounging around on his coach all day when his phone rang suddenly. Tired and slightly startled — he reached out to grab his fairly new iPhone. He was more than surprised when he saw that it was Alec’s name flashing on his screen. He didn’t hesitate to answer — his whole body lunging forward as he waited to hear the boy’s heavenly voice.  
“Hello?” he answered, anticipation clear in his voice.  
“Magnus” Alec replied, his voice slightly hesitant. “I uh-I just wanted to call to apologise for the other night. You know, at the party”.  
“Already forgiven” Magnus said dismissively. “Are you alright? You haven’t been at work…”.  
There was a pause.  
“Yeah, sorry about that” Alec mumbled quickly. “You have every right to fire me”.  
“Fire you?” Magnus asked. “Not a chance”.  
There was another pause.   
“Thank you, then” Alec said after a long moment.   
Magnus could hear a shuffle of feet and an unfamiliar voice in the background. He frowned — was Alec with someone? He waited a moment, wondering if he should say anything further before the boy hung up.   
“Are you doing anything this evening?” he asked unsurely.  
Damn it, he thought sourly. He wanted to ask the question smoothly not unsurely.   
“Uh, no” Alec replied. “Why?”.  
Magnus took a deep breath. “Maybe we could go out to dinner or something? I know it may seem odd. But after what happened at the party…I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you”.  
Another very long pause.   
“Y-you want to go out to dinner…with me?” Alec asked.  
Magnus could hear the surprise in Alec’s voice and smiled to himself. The surprised tone of Alec’s voice gave Magnus another boost of confidence. Normally — he wouldn’t have needed a boost. But something about Alec made Magnus all tingly inside. It was awfully strange.   
“Yes I do” he said. “But the real question is…do you?”.  
He could hear Alec’s nervous intake of breath and smiled. Maybe he made Alec just as nervous as the boy made him.   
“I-I guess” Alec said, his voice barely audible — but Magnus heard it.   
“Great!” Magnus beamed. “I’ll meet you outside your apartment at six O’clock”.  
Without giving Alec any time to answer, Magnus hung up. He always found it a lot more exciting to leave the other person surprised after a phone call. He could only imagine what Alec looked like on the other side of the line.

**

Alec slowly removed his mobile phone away from his ear and turned around to stare at Jace. The blonde boy was smirking in amusement — eye brows raised — and ready to bombard Alec with questions. Of course, Jace had only heard one side of the conversation. But when Alec asked the question ‘You want to go to dinner with me?’, that gave Jace all the information he needed.  
“So when’s this dinner?” Jace asked.  
Alec shrugged. “He said he’d be here at six”.  
“Here?!” Jace asked, his eyes widening. “He knows where you live?”.  
Alec waved a dismissive hand at him. “It’s…to hard to explain. And frankly, I don’t want to”.  
Jace frowned but said nothing. Alec ran his finger through his air anxiously, the way he always did when he was nervous. He’d done it at school before a speech, he’d done it at home during serious conversations with his parents and he’d done it before his job interview. But this time was different. He was doing it because he was going to go on a date with his boss. Jace, noticing his brother’s distress, eased Alec down into a chair.   
“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to” he pointed out. “If he comes knocking on your door I can get rid of him”.  
Alec shook his head. “Don’t do that. Maybe…maybe I do want to go”.  
Jace nudged him proudly. “See, thats the spirit! Look dude, I don’t mean to be a pain in the ass, but if you don’t start getting some action…you’re going to become an old…lonely…fat man with a dozen cats”.  
“I don’t like cats” Alec replied blankly.  
Jace rolled his eyes. “That is beside the point. Magnus likes you…that much is clear. And I’m pretty sure you think he’s hot, probably, who knows with you. Maybe a dinner date will be fun”.  
Alec nodded slowly, still trying to comprehend the whole situation. Alec never received much attention from anyone…yet alone guys that were as hot as Magnus. If it were anyone else, yeah, Alec would gladly go out to dinner without a moments hesitation. But it was Magnus Bane. His boss.   
“He’s my boss” he said finally. “I have to call…I have to say I’m busy”.  
He reached out to grab his phone, but Jace grabbed it first, holding it up in the air away from Alec.  
“You are not cancelling your own happiness” Jace said firmly. “You are going to go on this date and enjoy yourself for once. Who cares if he’s your boss…it’s not like you’re going to marry the guy!”.  
Alec glared at his brother. “You don’t know anything! You don’t get it! If I screw up with Magnus, I could lose my job! He has the power to sack me in an instant…”.  
“Alec!” Jace snapped. “Quit trying to wriggle your way out of this. Admit it, you’re scared. You have no idea why Magnus is interested in you…and your scared!”.  
Alec blinked, clearly surprised by Jace’s semi outburst. To add to his surprise, what Jace was saying had been partly true. He had no idea why Magnus was interested in him…why would he be? Alec was just Alec. Messy hair, shadowed eyes, and clothes that were decades old. No one ever gave him a second glance. Except Magnus. And that made Alec both delighted yet terrified.  
“I just don’t want to put myself out there” Alec whispered, glancing down at his shaking hands.  
“Alec…when you stood up in front of all those people at Dad’s party…you already put yourself out there” Jace sighed. “This won’t be any different”.  
Alec let out a long, deep sigh. “Fine. Okay. I’ll do it. But what in god’s name do I wear?”.

**

Six O’clock came around and Alec was dressed in a blue checked shirt and black jeans that stuck to his skin like glue. His hair was neatly brushed to the side — aside from a few hairs that failed to cooperate. In his opinion, he looked like an idiot. But Jace had told him over and over again that he looked great. When the door bell rang and the whole world seemed to slow down, Alec’s heart skipped a beat and he found himself staring mindlessly into space. It was only until the door bell rang the second time that he actually made an effort to answer it. Magnus stood on the other side of the door dressed in tight purple jeans, a short sleeved shirt covered in all kinds of flowers, and a purple blazer to match his jeans. He looked exquisite. Alec couldn’t help but gasp a little at the sight of him.  
“Magnus” he said, sort of as a greeting. “Y-you’re…”.  
“On time?” Magnus offered. “I always am. Sometimes. When it’s important. May I add that I love that shirt you’ve got on. Where the hell did you get that?”.  
Alec had seemed to have forgotten what he was wearing because his mind went completely blank.  
“What?” he asked.  
Magnus pointed to the shirt. “I like your shirt, Alexander. Where did you get it?”.  
“I-I uh I” he glanced down at his checked shirt. “I got this from JayJays”.  
“I’ll pay a visit” Magnus said, sounding pleased. “Are you all set to go?”.  
Alec nodded, barely able to keep himself upright. He was actually doing this. He was actually going on a date with his boss. Magnus smiled at him — a smile without any intentions. Alec felt the tension in his bones release and he was starting to feel comfortable with the whole idea. He had Magnus’ smile to thank for that.


	9. Dinner Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so this Chapter Nine ! I know I'm dragging this out but I hope you are liking this because I want to continue posting !

Magnus knew of an expensive restaurant down town. It was called the Night Owl. In Alec’s opinion, it sounded like an undercover strip club. But Magnus had insisted that it was a beautiful restaurant with delicious food. It didn’t take long to get there. Magnus drove the whole way in his Blue Bugatti Chiron that had costed around $2.5M. Alec had been amazed by the whole trip. The car was fantastic. Jace would have been jealous. When they arrived at the restaurant, Alec couldn’t take his eyes off of the decorations. The restaurant looked like it belonged in the Queen’s palace. There were chandeliers and portable lights — Alec could have sworn he’d seen chairs moving on their own.   
“How come I’ve never heard of this place?” Alec asked in amazement as they walked past a marble statue of what looked to be John F Kennedy.  
Magnus smiled over at him fondly. “Is it because you just stay in your apartment and order pizza?”.  
“How did you know?” Alec laughed.  
They were directed to a table towards the back of the room, away from the other guests who were chattering away amongst themselves happily. They were then given a menu each and were left to their own devices as they chose their meal.   
“Are you allergic to anything?” Magnus asked curiously.  
Alec lifted the menu towards his eyes, scanning the meals hungrily. “Not that I am aware of. Sometimes I find myself allergic to stupid people”.  
“Oh look!” Magnus exclaimed. “Five minutes into our date and we’ve already found something in common”.  
Alec let out a small laugh, his eyes lighting up as he did so. It was a beautiful sight, Magnus thought, and he only wanted to see Alec laugh over and over again. But he quickly turned his attention back onto his menu, scanning the meals restlessly as his stomach grumbled. Alec did the same, trying desperately not to stare at Magnus’ glitter covered eye shadow. The meals were all very expensive, far too expensive for Alec’s liking. He stared at a very appetising grilled cheese sandwich that for some reason costed $100. It looked fantastic. Not to mention the fact that he loved grilled cheese more than anything. He glanced up over his menu to find Magnus staring at him, his green eyes bright and amused.  
“Have you found anything you’d like?” he asked.  
Alec shrugged. “I might have. The grilled cheese sandwich looks nice”.  
“Not very creative, are we?” Magnus asked with a chuckle. “I’m going to order a sea food dish”.  
Alec nodded, slowly placing his menu down onto the table in front of him. Magnus waved a hand at a young waitress, gesturing for her to take their orders. She wandered over with a plastered smile, her eyes trailing from Magnus’ beauty to Alec’s blandness.   
“What would you like to order?” she asked politely, her eyes deciding to remain on Magnus.   
“I would like to order today’s special sea food dish” Magnus said cheerfully.   
The young waitress quickly jotted that down onto her notepad, smiling as she did so. Alec rolled her eyes. Did waitresses have to be so fake? He waited patiently, his eyes never leaving the menu out in front of him.  
“And you?” the waitress asked.  
“I’d like the grilled cheese sandwich” he said blankly.  
The girl nodded and jotted that down too, her smile fading ever so slightly. Magnus also suggested that they be brought a bottle of their most expensive wine. The girl’s smile returned and she hurried away, clearly excited to be making good business with the mysterious Magnus Bane. When the young waitress was out of sight, Alec let out a loud sigh of relief.   
“She didn’t try to hide her admiration for you, did she?” he asked, looking up at Magnus with interest.  
Magnus shrugged and leaned back in his chair, smirking. “It was rather cute, don’t you think?”.  
“Yeah, for you” Alec said. “But I felt like the ugly duckling”.  
“You are far from ugly, Alexander” Magnus said sincerely. “But you hide behind your hair. If you sit up a little straighter, push your hair out of your eyes and smile…you’ll find yourself with a lot more attention”.  
Alec rolled his eyes. “Thanks for the advice but…I’m trying to avoid attention at the moment”.  
“Well you are doing a terrible job” Magnus said. “Because you caught my attention”.  
Alec blushed. Magnus was flirting, Alec knew that. But he didn’t know how to respond to flirting other then to just look down. When Isabelle was faced with flirting, she knew exactly what to do. Same with Jace. But Alec was different. He simply blushed and that was the end of it.   
When the waitress returned with a bottle of expensive wine, Magnus and Alec both withdrew themselves from the awkwardness and intrigued themselves with a glass of wine each. Alec raised the glass to his lips, watching Magnus do the same under his eyelashes. The wine was sweet yet desirable. Alec liked it, despite the fact that at first taste, it felt a bit too strong.   
“Dinner might be a while” Magnus said as he glanced around the room. “Why don’t we play a game?”.  
“A game?” Alec echoed, following Magnus’ gaze unsurely.  
“A game” Magnus confirmed with a small smirk. “A game that allows us to get to know each other”.  
“Okay….what kind of game are you thinking of?” Alec asked hesitantly, not liking the smirk on his boss’ face.   
Magnus raised his glass of wine to his lips slowly and took a long sip. Alec watched anxiously, his fingers drumming against the tip of his own glass impatiently. Magnus was clearly in thought — eyes narrowed and mouth slightly open. He wanted to play a game that would allow them both to get to know each other better, but at the same time, become a bit of a competition between them.   
“Lets play the drinking game!” Magnus suggested, quickly placing his glass back onto the table. “But we’ll change it up a bit. We’ll say a statement about ourselves and the other player will guess whether it is true or false. If the other person guesses correctly, you have to drink. And if the other person guesses incorrectly, they’ll have to drink. First person to finish their glass loses. How does that sound?”.  
Alec stared at Magnus opened mouthed. To be fair, the game did sound well thought out. But Alec had a eery feeling that he’d get himself drunk and lose the game. Alec hated losing. He was a competitor. But the game sounded fun — not to mention it would pass time. So, without further hesitation, he nodded, agreeing to play the so called ‘drinking game’.  
“Excellent!” Magnus clapped his hands together and began to refill both their glasses so that the amount of wine inside were even.   
Alec watched intently, his blue eyes narrowed in concentration. He didn’t know Magnus very well, but he was almost certain that he would try and cheat in order to make himself win. So as Magnus poured them both a drink, Alec was careful to measure just how much alcohol they were both given.   
“Who goes first?” Magnus asked once both cups were full.  
Alec shrugged. “I’ll go, if you like”.  
“Go ahead” Magnus said with a grin. “Oh and by the way, I’m fantastic at telling when people are lying”.  
Alec ignored Magnus’ lie detector story and thought of a statement that he could use in the game. He didn’t want to say something that would be to easy to guess or something that was just altogether weird. He decided to start off easy, make Magnus think that he had a good chance of knowing Alec.  
“My middle name is Gideon” he said finally, careful not reveal anything with his facial expressions.  
Magnus stared at Alec, deep in thought. It didn’t take long before a smile broke out on his face and he looked as confident as Kim Kardashian before she went on screen.  
“That is true” he grinned. “Gideon is too much of a rare name to make up on the spot”.  
Alec sighed. “Yeah…you’re right”.  
“Drink up” Magnus chuckled, gesturing towards Alec’s glass.  
Alec raised the glass to his lips slowly and took a long sip, shutting his eyes as the wine burned his tongue. Magnus watched with a satisfied grin, his eyes drawn to Alec’s very soft looking pink lips.   
“Your turn” Alec said quickly, placing his glass back down onto the table.  
“I own a cat” Magnus said simply, leaning forward in his seat.  
Alec smiled to himself. “Thats true”.  
“What?” Magnus asked in surprise. “How did you know that?”.  
Alec shrugged. “I guessed. You sort of remind me of a cat and I just assumed…you were a cat person”.  
Groaning unhappily, Magnus raised his glass towards his lips and drank. Alec watched in amusement, proud of himself for getting it right first go.   
“So what’s your cat’s name?” he asked once Magnus put down his glass.  
“Chairman Meow” Magnus replied. “Great cat, I’m sure you’d like him”.  
Alec nodded and tried to think of something else to say. He needed to be smarter about the statement this time. He needed to trick Magnus in some way.   
“I have one brother and one sister” he said simply, trying to keep the smile off of his face.   
“Thats true” Magnus said quickly. “I met them, remember. Jack and Isabelle”.  
“It’s Jace” Alec corrected before he let out a laugh. “And you’re wrong. I actually have two brothers. Max is my youngest brother, he’s fifteen and pretty much a nerd”.  
Magnus looked horrified at the fact that he had gotten it wrong. Grumpily, he lifted the glass toward his lips, his eyes narrowed at Alec. Clearly, Magnus wasn’t prone to being wrong or tricked. Alec couldn’t keep the smile off of his face.   
“Alright, Lightwood” Magnus said in a challenging turn. “I am twenty-six years old”.  
Alec thought for a moment. Magnus did look quite young, whether he was twenty-six or not, that was a mystery. It was hard to tell what a man covered in make up actually looked like. He assumed that Magnus was telling the truth because of how quickly he spoke the statement.  
“Thats true” he said finally  
Magnus clapped his hands together triumphantly. “Nope! I’m twenty-eight! Drink up! Drink up!”.  
Alec frowned and drank up. After a few more games and a lot more drinking, dinner was finally served. Magnus; with his seafood dish and Alec; with his grilled cheese sandwich. Their cups were almost empty — meaning that no one had yet won the game. Alec, compelled by an adrenaline rush of competition, wanted to keep playing. And by the look in Magnus’ competitive eyes, so did he.   
“Shall we continue?” Alec asked as he sliced into his sandwich.  
“We shall” Magnus grinned.  
It was currently Alec’s turn — meaning that while he chewed on a small portion of his sandwich — he had to think of a statement to share. Magnus waited patiently, his eyes transfixed on Alec as he watched the boy eat.  
“I can play the piano” Alec said finally, raising his eyes slightly so that they met Magnus’.  
Magnus’ eyes stared into Alec’s for a few moments before he lowered them towards Alec’s slim fingers. They were long, skinny, and could probably play the piano. But Magnus just couldn’t imagine the boy to be able to play any musical instrument let alone the piano.   
“False” he answered shortly, praying to the angels that he was right.  
Alec let out a disappointed sigh and reached out for his glass. Magnus chuckled to himself as he watched the boy drink, taking the time to start on his own sea food dish. He was no longer hungry — with alcohol stabbing at his liver — but also because he was having to much of a good time to even think about food. He’d been nervous about the date. It was also clear that Alec had been too. But the game had eased them up a little and now they were both on the verge of drunkenness.   
“Ok your turn” Alec sighed as he put his almost empty glass back down onto the table.  
“I’m a virgin” Magnus said, trying hard not to smile.  
Alec had been about to stuff his face with another slice of his sandwich when he almost dropped it back onto his place. ‘I’m a virgin’. The words hung in the air for a moment, unable to go anywhere as the two men just stared at each other. Alec in embarrassment and Magnus with amusement.  
“False” Alec said hesitantly.  
Magnus chuckled. “Yeah…you’re right”.  
He raised his glass towards his lips and frowned as the rest of the liquid rolled down his throat. His cup was now empty meaning that he had just lost the game. Alec threw his hands up in the air and cheered loudly. Thankfully, no one in the room noticed because of the already loud noise buzzing in the room.   
“I won!” he gasped. “Ha! I won!”.  
Magnus leant back into his chair and crossed his arms lazily over his chest. He gave Alec a few moments of triumphant celebration before bitterly pouring himself another drink.   
“To be honest, it was your own fault that you lost” Alec said, leaning back in his chair.  
Magnus raised an eyebrow. “How so?”.  
“Your statement was ridiculous!” Alec said as though it were the obvious answer. “As if you’re a virgin! Look at you! Handsome face, hot body and…shit”.  
It seemed as though Alec had drunk more than enough alcohol for one night. He could not believe the words that had just spilled out of his mouth. He stared at Magnus, wide eyed and opened mouthed. Never again would he play the drinking game with Magnus Bane. Unlike Alec — who looked horrified — Magnus seemed to have liked Alec’s description of him. ‘Handsome face, hot body’. He smiled to himself, hiding behind his glass of wine. Alec, despite knowing the affect the wine had on him, poured himself some more.  
“So….” Magnus started, drumming his fingers against his glass of wine. “Has your wonderful parents forgiven you yet for your revelation at the party?”.  
Alec shook his head. “I haven’t spoken to them. But I doubt they’d ever speak to me again”.  
“Don’t underestimate a parents love” Magnus said gently, staring at Alec with concern.  
“Parents love” Alec echoed, glaring down into his cup. “Mom might forgive me…who knows. But Dad, after what I did, I’m good as dead to him”.  
“I’m sure thats not true” Magnus sighed. “He’ll be angry, sure. Maybe for a long time. But he will forgive you. It will just take time”.  
Alec shrugged. “Doesn’t matter anyway. I have my own apartment now…got a job…”.  
“But family is important, Alexander” Magnus looked down as he spoke. “Without it…you feel lonely”.  
Alec looked up — noticed Magnus’ down cast eyes — and frowned.   
“So what about your family?” he asked quietly. “You haven’t mentioned them once”.  
Magnus looked up despite the sadness in his eyes. “Well thats because I don’t have one. I never knew my real dad, he just kind of…left. My mom was mentally ill and hung herself when I was three. My step dad brought me up for a little while…but we never really got along”.  
Alec swallowed hard — suddenly feeling guilty for all the times he complained about his family. At least he had one — had people who cared about him. Magnus lost so much. Yet he still managed to smile every day and just keep moving forward.   
“I’m so sorry” Alec whispered.  
Magnus forced a small smile. “Don’t be. I’ve lived with it for quite some time”.  
“Doesn’t make it alright” Alec said as he reached out to grab Magnus’ hand.  
It wasn’t an action Alec would normally take. But Magnus looked as though he were about to let loose at any given moment. The least Alec could do was try and comfort him. Magnus smiled at the touch, glad to feel Alec’s warm fingers brush against his own.   
“We should go” he said quietly, glancing over at the clock on the wall.  
It ready 10:55pm. Alec nodded quickly and removed his hand away from Magnus. He took one last sip of wine before standing up — the loud shuffle of chairs sounding in the almost empty restaurant.   
“We’ll split the bill in half” Alec said as an older waitress came waddling over with a receipt in her hand.  
“No” Magnus said, snatching the bill from the waitress before Alec could. “I’m paying”.  
“It’s way too expensive” Alec said, his eyes wide. “We’ll split it in half”.  
Magnus shook his head and pulled out his wallet. “I’m rich enough for a dinner, Alexander. I’m paying”.  
“But-“ Alec started, but Magnus held up a hand to stop him.   
Alec argued no further. He didn’t think he could win against the great Magnus Bane anyway. So while Magnus paid, Alec waited outside in the cool autumn’s breeze that brushed along his forearm. The streets outside were still busy and littered with cars. He could see Magnus’ car not to far ahead, standing out amongst much cheaper and more common cars. He felt a light tap on his shoulder and Magnus appeared beside him, his hair blowing in front of his face.  
“I better take you home” he said.  
“But we’ve got enough alcohol in your system to last a life time” Alec replied, looking from Magnus and then to the car. “Neither of us can drive”.  
Magnus slid his car keys out from his pockets and grinned. “There is one thing you need to know about me, Alexander. It’s that I never follow the rules”.


	10. Let Loose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the comments and kudos! Means a lot :') Here's chapter 10, hope you enjoy.

Magnus and Alec both stumbled into Alec’s apartment, one arm wrapped around each other as they sung along to ‘Living on a prayer’ by Bon Jovi. Magnus’ voice sung out above Alec’s — it also had more of a melody to it — but that didn’t stop Alec from trying to hit the higher notes. Once inside, with the door slammed shut behind them, they bursted into a fit of laughter. Their drunkenness had survived the car trip, with Magnus barely able to see five metres ahead of him. But they survived and were now let loose with their voices sounding loudly across the apartment. They fell to the ground — their legs unable to support them any longer. Magnus’ back smashed against the side of the couch and Alec fell down right beside him. It only took them a moment before they returned to their terrible singing. Magnus couldn’t remember ever laughing so much, his mouth was sore from smiling and his throat hurt from all the singing. He wasn’t sure if he could take the enjoyment any longer.   
“Does your head hurt?” Alec asked, his voice a lot dreamier when he was drunk.  
“Not at all” Magnus replied. “But my throat is burning up”.  
“My head hurts” Alec frowned and his head fell heavily onto Magnus’ shoulder.  
Magnus looked down at him tiredly. Alec’s eyes were closed and his hair covered his forehead. He looked like a sleeping angel. Magnus brushed his fingers along Alec’s cheek, the boy’s cheek bones firm and well structured. They were also soft and smooth, gentle to the touch. Magnus could have felt them all night. But his own tiredness creeped up on him and his eyes were closing slowly. 

**

Alec woke up the next morning to the sound of Sunday morning traffic buzzing outside his window. He was on the floor — head on Magnus’ chest and hands rolled up at his sides. He could hear Magnus’ breathing, slow and steady, letting Alec know that his boss was still alive. Slowly and carefully, he removed himself from his sleeping position and ran his fingers through his hair tiredly. The sound of rain tapping against his window made him suddenly aware of his surroundings. The room was dark, lit up only by the street lights outside and the sun behind clouds. Yawning, he wobbled over towards his kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. The thought of consuming anything other than water made him want to gag. Sipping on water, he glanced over at the sleeping Magnus. Magnus’ usual perfectly tamed hair was muffled up in all different directions — almost mirroring Alec’s. It was strange, Alec thought dreamily, how one day he was searching for a job and just a few days later his new boss was asleep on his living room floor. He pushed the thought out of his head and smiled as the memory of their dinner date replayed in his mind. He’d had fun, enjoyed himself. Magnus turned out to be quite a funny guy. Not that he hadn’t been funny during their awkward conversations at work. Alec liked Magnus. A lot. He wondered what Magnus thought of him…  
His phone rang suddenly — zapping Alec out of his dream like state and waking Magnus up from his slumber. Cursing, Alec shoved his phone out from his pocket and groaned as his mom’s name flashed on his screen. He hadn’t spoken to her since his outburst at the party. He really didn’t think he was ready for a serious conversation. Especially not when his boss was slowly waking up a few metres away.   
“Hello?” he answered nervously, turning away so that his back was to Magnus.  
“Alec” Maryse sighed, sounding both relieved and anxious. “How are you?”.  
“I’m…fine” Alec said. “What about you?”.  
He heard his mom draw in a deep breath. “Listen, Alec, your father and I need to talk with you. We’ve put it off long enough but we can no longer ignore what happened at the party. I don’t know if you were drunk or just being a fool…but your father and I need to discuss it with you”.  
Alec shut his eyes gently and fought off the urge to rip out his hair. Discussions with his parents were never a good thing. The last time he had had a serious discussion with them it ended with a shouting match between himself and his dad. He knew for sure that this discussion in particular was going to be a lot worse.  
“Alec? Are you there?” Maryse asked unsurely.  
“Yeah, mom, I’m here” Alec replied quickly. “When do you, uh, want to have this discussion?”.  
“I want you over here for lunch” Maryse said. “Be here at twelve O’clock. Max is at a friends house and Jace is at Clary’s. Isabelle will be home but she can find something to do while your father and I talk with you”.  
Alec bit his lip. “You say lunch. Does that mean there will be food?”.  
“Yes, Alec” Maryse sighed, sounding slightly annoyed. “Make sure you come on time, you understand?”.  
“Yes, mom” Alec said, trying hard not to roll his eyes — even though technically, he could do it without his mom knowing.   
“Alright then, I’ll see you at twelve” Maryse said before quickly hanging up.   
Alec lowered his phone slowly and turned around to face Magnus. Magnus stood only metres away, his hair sticking up in all different directions and his eyes filled with curiosity. Alec could only sigh — slumping over so that his elbows rested on the bench with his hands supporting his chin.  
“To much drama for an early morning?” Magnus asked, his voice a lot raspier in the morning.  
“Something like that” Alec frowned. “Mom and Dad wanna talk”.  
Magnus pulled an unimpressed face. “Thats never a good sign. Do you know what its about?”.  
“The party, obviously” Alec said, racking his hands through his hair. “I really don’t feel like getting yelled at over lunch. I had just planned to have a lazy day”.  
Magnus smiled at that. “Hasn’t the whole week been a lazy day for you?”.  
“Well yeah” Alec said, his lips curling into a small smile. “But another one can’t hurt”.  
Magnus let out a small, tired laugh and reached out to grab Alec’s phone. He went straight to the camera and moved around so that he stood next to Alec.   
“What are you doing?” Alec asked.  
Magnus switched the camera so that their faces could be captured. “Selfie. You and Me”.  
“Uh…ok” Alec said, staring at his zombie-looking face in the camera. “May I ask why?’.  
“To remember me” Magnus said with the wave of his hand. “Not that you’ll ever forget me. But you know, to remember the dinner date and the early morning where I caught you talking to your mommy”.   
Alec raised an eyebrow. “Right. Selfies aren’t really my thing so…”.  
“So…” Magnus continued for him. “It doesn’t matter. Smile, Alexander. Don’t want to look grumpy”.  
Alec looked into the camera — but didn’t smile. Magnus, on the other hand, smiled a glamorous smile with his perfectly white teeth. Once the picture was taken, Magnus decided it would be a good idea to change it to Alec’s wallpaper. He thought it looked a lot better than a picture of a dragon from Game of Thrones. Before he could make any further changes, Alec snatched the phone out of his hands and shoved it into his pockets.  
“You’re no fun, Alexander” Magnus said with a pout. “Why is that?”.  
“For safety reasons” Alec mumbled, walking past Magnus so that he could re-enter the living room.  
Magnus followed with a small smirk. “Safety reasons, huh? So does that mean if you were ever to let loose and have some fun — like last night — you could get a little dangerous?”.  
“Dangerous?” Alec echoed. “No, I don’t think so. If you want dangerous you should go for someone like…I don’t know…Isabelle. But don’t do that. She’s my sister and she has a boyfriend”.  
“She’s not my type” Magnus muttered dismissively. “But oh come on, I’m sure you could be a little dangerous. I saw a bit of your fun side — but you don’t let loose often”.  
“Thats because when I do, I cause trouble” Alec said, scrambling through a pile of clean clothes. “Don’t you remember what happened at the party”.  
“Oh but that was because of emotions” Magnus said. “Thats not what I’m talking about”.  
He moved closer to Alec, leaning over so that he stood very close to Alec’s behind. His body was only centimetres away — he could feel himself being lured forward. But when Alec stood up, he was quick to regain his self control.  
“Then I don’t know what you’re talking about” Alec said, holding up a clean red buttoned up shirt and a pair of denim jeans.   
He stepped past Magnus and threw his clothes onto his bed. He didn’t step into his bedroom though — afraid that Magnus might follow. And that would just be awkward. Magnus followed him back into the kitchen, remaining only centimetres behind him.   
“Have you ever been in a relationship before?” Magnus asked curiously.  
Alec — who was taking another sip of water — almost choked. “What?”.  
“You heard me” Magnus said.  
Alec looked a little taken back. “Uh, well. No. No I haven’t”.  
“Why is that?” Magnus asked, leaning forward so that his stomach pressed against the kitchen bench across from Alec. “You’re a handsome young man”.  
“I-I don’t know” Alec stuttered. “I-I guess I just haven’t found the right person”.  
“The right man” Magnus corrected.   
Alec swallowed hard. He had no idea where Magnus was going with this conversation — but he was almost certain that he wasn’t going to like it. Just like he didn’t like the smirk playing out on his boss’ face.   
“What about you?” Alec asked, trying to turn the question around. “Have you been in any relationships?”.  
“A few” Magnus admitted easily. “I haven’t been in one for a good year or so. The last one broke my heart”.  
Alec blinked, curiosity slowly sneaking in. “Tell me about it”.  
Something in Magnus’ expression changed — like he had been re-opened some how. Alec watched him steadily, searching his face for hesitation or unwillingness. But Magnus looked completely comfortable with the question he had just been asked.  
“Well, about four years ago I started dating the prettiest girl I knew” he started, watching Alec’s face for the expected surprise. He hadn’t told Alec he was bisexual. Not yet. “Her name was Camille”.  
Alec wasn’t too surprised by Magnus’ bisexuality revelation. He’d kind of suspected it. He kept his face calm and relaxed — letting Magnus know he was ready to hear more.   
“She was fun, exciting and just overall…amazing” Magnus went on, smiling at the memory. “I had planned to marry her someday”.  
“What happened?” Alec asked quietly.  
“She wasn’t the person I thought her to be” Magnus sighed. “She was as cold as ice and terribly cruel. She was a cheating bitch who cared for no one other than herself”.  
Alec lowered his gaze at Magnus’ words. He could hear just how hurt he was — how much pain he had gone through. He couldn’t imagine ever going through something like that. His heart had never been broken.   
“But I’m over her now” Magnus added in a lighter tone. “And I have been for a while now”.   
Alec nodded quickly, glancing back up at Magnus who was staring at him with an indescribable intensity. He blinked — forcing himself to look back down. But he couldn’t help but stare into Magnus’ mystical green eyes, falling into a deep hole, so far down that he wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to climb out. Magnus stepped away from the bench, moving around so that he could stand right beside Alec. Silence stood between them, blocking out the outside traffic and the rain tapping against the window. Their eyes were locked — blue on green — neither of them able to look away. Magnus moved even closer, his jacket brushing lightly against Alec’s T-shirt. It didn’t take long before their bodies were now completely touching, no more space between them. Alec could feel his breathing quicken and his hands trembling at his sides. Magnus was very close — close enough to…  
Magnus’ lips collied with his own — moving in quick and desperate motions. Alec’s hands shot up to grip Magnus’ hips, while Magnus’ hands slid up Alec’s back. Their lips moved together, neither of them willing to pull away. Lip-locked, bodies intwined, they were both exactly where they wanted to be. Magnus parted Alec’s lips expertly, exploring his mouth with his own. Alec returned the favour, biting Magnus’ lip urgently before pulling away. He stared at Magnus — wide eyed and open mouthed. Magnus stared back at him — star struck and amazed. Clearly, neither of them had expected to kiss. Alec stepped backwards, smashing his back against the kitchen sink.   
“I should go” Magnus said, clearing his throat as he backed away out of the kitchen. “Good luck with the…the…conversation with your parents. Hope it goes well and all”.  
“T-thanks” Alec stuttered, watching as Magnus backed away towards the door.  
Magnus almost smashed himself against the door — turning around just time in time to walk out smoothly. Alec was left alone in his kitchen, wide eyed and gasping for breath. He could not believe what had just happened.


	11. Future at Risk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Eleven as promised! I think I've decided there are going to be Fourteen chapters so...almost done! Hope you enjoy !

Alec knocked on his parents’ front door three times, praying to god that his mom would answer and not his dad. To his surprise, neither of them answered. Instead, it was Isabelle. Dressed in a green skin tight dress with her hair braided all the way down her back, she looked as stunning as the photograph of Princess Katherine shimmering in her hands.  
“Going somewhere?” Alec asked, stepping inside before his sister could invite him in.  
“Party” she said. “How do I look?”.  
“A lot like the princess” Alec observed. “New look?”.  
Isabelle rolled her eyes. “Mom and Dad are waiting in the kitchen. I have a party to get too. Good luck”.  
Without another word, Isabelle left the house, leaving Alec all alone to pit against his no doubt angry parents. He could hear his mom’s soft voice from the kitchen — calling him over with clear hesitation. Alec took a deep breath and wandered over, trying to calm himself down by thinking about Magnus and the kiss. But that turned out to just make him more nervous. When he entered the kitchen, the first thing he noticed was just how messy it was. There were piles of dirty dishes on the bench — covered in crumbs and pasta sauce. It wasn’t like his parents to leave a kitchen messy. The second thing he noticed was how under dressed his father looked. Robert normally wore a professional suit, even on the weekends when he didn’t have to work. But on this particular Sunday, Robert wore a plain white shirt with striped pyjama bottoms. Maryse, on the other hand, wore a nice black dress that fell past her knees. They were both seated at the dining table, side by side, glancing over at Alec with completely different expressions. Maryse looked surprisingly cool, calm and collected. Robert, however, looked as though he wanted to slap Alec right across the face.   
“Take a seat” Maryse said, gesturing to the chair across from them.  
Alec did what was asked of him and took a seat. He’d told himself that during this discussion, he was going to let his parents yell and punish him without any argument from him. Then when they’d finished with their yelling and punishing, he’d simply apologise. The plan seemed well thought out in his head. But as he sat down in front of his parents — he couldn’t help but wonder if simply apologising was going to save him.   
“I’m glad you arrived on time” Maryse said, adding a small smile to her observation.  
“Lets cut to the chase, shall we” Robert started unhappily. “Your behaviour at the wires party was embarrassing and overly disrespectful. We’d expect that kind of behaviour from a five year old…not our eldest son”.  
Maryse opened her mouth to speak, but Robert stopped her with a raised finger. His eyes were dark and furious, glaring at Alec as though he could kill him with one hard look.   
“I’m sorry for that-“ Alec started, but Robert stopped him also with another raised finger.  
“I don’t care if you’re sorry or not” Robert hissed. “You weren’t drunk…or at least thats what your brother and sister said, so what is your excuse? Hm, Alec? What is your great excuse?”.  
Alec swallowed hard. He’d been a fool to think that a simple apology would save him. Of course his dad wouldn’t just say ‘Oh thats fine, Alec. You’re forgiven’. No, Robert was going to yell at Alec until the poor boy withered away to nothing. And Maryse…she was just going to stand back and watch the show.  
“I don’t have an excuse, father” Alec said quietly. “It was wrong of me to stand up in front of everyone and shame you like that. But if Magnus hadn’t -“.  
“If Magnus Bane hadn’t been there, none of it wouldn’t have happened!” Robert interrupted.  
Alec blinked in confusion. “You’re blaming Magnus? It’s not Magnus’ fault I lost the plot. He’s the one who dragged me off of that platform and saved me from embarrassing you further”.  
“Alec…” Maryse said gently. “Why on earth did you bring him?”.  
“I had planned to make a fool of dad” Alec admitted quietly. “But I had a different plan. Originally I was just going to introduce him as my boyfriend in front of a few of your work mates”.  
Robert scoffed. “And he just so happened to be glad to help?”.  
“Think what you want, Dad” Alec said, narrowing his eyes. “But Magnus saved you from further shame”.  
“Listen to me, Alec” Robert said, his voice dangerously low. “You’re going to hand in your resignation and leave the Bane Company. Do you understand me?”.  
Alec rolled his eyes. “Seriously? What makes you think you have any control over me?”.  
“You will do it” Robert insisted. “Because if you don’t…you’ll no longer have any contact with your siblings. Not Max, not Isabelle, not Jace”.  
“You can’t do t-“ Alec started, but Robert interrupted him with his fist smashed against the dining table.  
“I can do what I like, Alexander!” he shouted. “So unless you want to be family-less I suggest you resign from the Bane Company and start working for Wires”.  
Alec stood up violently, kicking his chair back with a thump. He’d never hated his father so much in his life. He ruined everything…everything. He always wanted it his way and couldn’t handle it when things went south.  
“You’re a despicable man, Robert Lightwood” Alec growled, turning away so that his back faced his parents. He could hear his own heart beat banging at his chest. Anger flared up inside of him and all he wanted to do was smash every single thing in this room. But he held onto his self control and took a deep breath.  
“Even if I do resign from Bane” he said, his voice dangerously soft. “And even if I did work for your shit company. I’ll never be the same Alec you remember. I’ll never really be your son. Not after this”.

**

The next day at work would be his last. And Alec knew it too. He didn’t bother brushing his hair or adjusting his tie as he wandered through the doors. The Bane building no longer felt like an opportunity, it felt like a distant memory. He hadn’t been there long — only a couple of days. But in those few days, he had finally felt like more than just a low life. He didn’t greet the old reception lady as he passed her, nor did he return the smile that Catarina Loss gave him. His mind was racing with all the words he’d jumble together to form the sentence: ‘I’m going to resign’. But no matter how many words he thought up, he couldn’t bring himself to say them out loud. He’d practiced all morning — staring at his broken mirror and stuttering like a nervous child. He didn’t want to leave Bane. But more importantly, he didn’t want to lose his siblings. He liked working at Bane — he liked it as much as he liked Magnus Bane in general. But losing his siblings would destroy him. They were his everything. His world. He couldn’t lose them. Not over a choice of work. He hurried down the halls and up the stairs, not stopping to catch his breath or fix the blu tac clinging to his shoe. If he dared stop to breathe, he wasn’t sure if he’d actually make it to Magnus’ office. The hallway ahead of him was the final step — the final obstacle on his journey. There was nothing between him and his boss except a long and never ending hallway. Alec let out a frustrated sigh and started on his way. His footsteps were heavy, sounding awfully like his father’s when Robert would return home from work. He pushed the thought aside and pursed his lips. He replayed the words he’d say in his head, over and over again until they were the only words he could say. But as his hand wrapped around the golden door knob, all the words he ever knew washed away like the ocean’s next wave. The world blacked out around him — disappearing to from unfamiliar shapes and colours until all he could see was Magnus Bane seated in his office. Magnus sat with a book in his hand, staring at Alec as though he were an angel who had descended from the heavens above.   
“Alexander?” he asked curiously. “What are you doing here? Is there some sort of problem?”.  
Alec knew that this was the part where he was supposed to tell Magnus about his resignation. But just as he had earlier expected, he’d lost the ability to speak. He stared at Magnus — wide eyed and open mouthed. His boss was dressed in a skin tight cobalt suit without an ounce of glitter in sight. Magnus’ eyeshadow matched his suit and his nail polish resembled the colour of the golden walls.   
“Alexander?” Magnus asked again, removing himself from his desk slowly. “Are you alright?”.  
Alec closed the door behind him, closing his eyes as it clicked shut. He hadn't realised how hard it would be to throw away his future. But for some reason, he didn’t think it was the actual job resignation that terrified him. It was the fact that he was about to throw away the happiness and enjoyment he had shared with Magnus just a couple of days beforehand that sent shivers down his spine. He remembered his conversation with Jace after Magnus had asked him out to dinner. He’d been about to cancel it when Jace said these exact words, “You are not cancelling your own happiness”. Those same words hung in air now — trying to convince Alec to just walk away and pretend there was nothing wrong. But there was a difference between his possible happiness with Magnus and his definite happiness with all three of his siblings. He couldn’t risk losing them forever. So, with all strength he could master up, he took a deep breath and looked into Magnus’ concerned green eyes.   
“I’m going to resign” he announced.  
He’d said it loud, clear and authoritatively. It was just like he had practiced it. But what he hadn’t prepared himself for was the colour that drained out from Magnus’ face. The other man stood still, dangerously still. His normally confident and amused face had taken a turn for the worst. He’d looked concerned before, but now he looked as though he’d entered his own worst hell. For a sick moment — a long sick moment — Alec thought that Magnus mirrored a man with a stab wound. He was hunched over now, his hand gripping the side of the desk painfully. It took him quite some time before he was able to recollect himself and face Alec.  
“Is this because of the kiss?” he asked, his voice uncharacteristically low.  
“No” Alec said quickly, his eyes wide. “No. Not at all. That has nothing to do with it. I swear it”.  
“Then what is it?” Magnus asked.  
Alec couldn’t bring himself to look Magnus in the eye. How could he when he could see just how much he was hurting him. He never expected Magnus to care as much as he clearly did. He felt his heart ache in his chest.   
“What is it?” Magnus demanded, his voice rising ever so slightly.   
Alec shook — hands trembling and legs like jelly underneath him. He opened his mouth to speak, but the only sound he made was a soft choke. He directed his eyes up towards Magnus, blinking nervously as the other man glared back at him. Magnus’ green eyes had darkened — almost similar to the way Clary’s did when she fought with Jace. He shivered at the thought of Magnus angry with him. But he did not blame him.  
“I-I have to” he said finally, his hands curling and uncurling at his sides.  
Magnus took a step towards Alec — but stopped himself before he could take another. He looked Alec up and down — head to toe — searching for any unspoken information. But Alec’s appearance gave nothing away, leaving all of Magnus’ questions unanswered.  
“Why must you?” he asked gently, the harshness in his tone disintegrating into nothing.  
Alec knew that this whole situation was more to Magnus than just losing a good reporter. He could sense it in his shivering bones. He could feel the hurt radiating off Magnus like a punch to the stomach. No matter how hurt Magnus was feeling — Alec still refused to look the other man in the eye.  
“I have to because…” he felt himself choke on his own words and took a deep breath before continuing. “My dad left me with an ultimatum. It was either I leave here and work for his company or I lose contact with my siblings. I’m sorry Magnus, I like working here and I like you…but I can’t lose my siblings”.  
Magnus took another step forward towards Alec and raised his finger so that it rested just underneath Alec’s chin. He could see the pain and regret in Alec’s lowered gaze. Alec didn’t want this — that much was clear. He raised Alec’s chin slowly, forcing the boy to meet his gaze. When their eyes did finally meet, Alec opened his mouth to speak.   
“I don’t want this” he whispered. “But my siblings-“.  
“They’ll stand by you” Magnus interrupted, his voice soft and gentle. “They are old enough to make their own decisions, Alec. Your parents — no matter how hard they may try — will never really be able to take them away from you”.  
“But they said-“  
“They said what they knew would scare you” Magnus whispered. “Think about it, Alexander, your brother Jace and your sister Isabelle are adults. They can see you whenever they like. As for you other brother, he could easily tag along. Your parents are trying to trick you, Alec. Don’t let them. Don’t leave”.  
Alec swallowed hard and turned away from Magnus. What Magnus had said made sense — Jace and Isabelle were adults — but it seemed unlikely that his parents would just allow them to make their own choices. He knew and understood what Magnus was saying — but how could he take that risk?   
“Alexander” Magnus whispered from behind him. “You know I’m right. Why leave this place for a lie? You are an amazing reporter who can build your future here. Don’t throw that away. Don’t throw me away”.  
“WE aren’t a thing!” Alec snapped, whirling around to face his boss. “I’m not throwing you away! I never had you! You never had me! We went out for dinner — had a good time. You kissed me and-“.  
“I kissed you?!” Magnus interrupted, anger flaring up inside of him.  
“Yes, you kissed me!” Alec snapped.   
“So I’m just an annoying boss then?” Magnus asked, raising his eyebrows. “You don’t like me at all?”.  
“I didn’t say that…” Alec said, retreating into himself as Magnus advanced on him.  
“You basically did” Magnus retorted. “I suppose it wouldn’t matter. I never liked you that much anyway”.  
Alec flinched. “W-what?”.  
“You’re too shy” Magnus went on — his eyes lighting up in anger. “I like more enthusiastic individuals. You’re also way to problematic. ‘My dad is Homophobic’ ‘My family hates me’. Get over yourself!”.  
Alec backed away towards the door, tears stinging his eyes. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He didn’t want to believe what he was hearing. Magnus never liked him? Magnus thought he was to shy? To problematic? He held out his hand behind him, trying to feel for the door knob so he could swing it open.  
Magnus was watching him — face stern and a single tear rolling down his cheek. Alec blinked — what gave Magnus the right to cry? He was the one causing all the hurt? Why couldn’t he understand? Alec was doing this because he had to — what was Magnus’ excuse?  
“Alexa-“ Magnus started.  
“You don’t get to call me that!” Alec shouted. “It’s ALEC! My name is ALEC!”.  
Magnus took a step forward, his face full of regret. It felt like he was in a bad dream where everything bad that could happen — happened.   
“I didn’t mean…I didn’t mean what I said” he whispered.  
Alec finally managed to grab hold of the door knob. He held on to it tightly — holding it as though it contained his pain relief. Because he hurt. He hurt more than he ever thought he would. He’d actually liked Magnus. Despite the things he said — he’d liked him.   
“Of course you meant it” Alec choked. “I am way to shy…I’m not enthusiastic about anything really. And yeah, you’re right. I’m problematic. And luckily for you…you won’t have to deal with me anymore. I quit”.  
He swung the door open behind him — revealing the long, empty hall that lead towards the staircases and the offices. Magnus stared at Alec, wide eyed and afraid. He didn’t want Alec to leave — he didn’t want to lose the one person he’d opened up to after such a long time of silence. So as Alec moved to step out the door, Magnus lunged forward, slamming the door shut before Alec could even think to act. And there they now stood, with Alec’s back hard against the door and Magnus standing across from him, his hand pinned against the door right beside Alec’s head.   
“What are you doing?” Alec growled.  
“I’m saving you from your own stupidity” Magnus said.  
Alec rolled his eyes. “Another insult? You know, Magnus you are not much of a-“.  
His words were cut off by Magnus’ lips pressed against his own. A small gasp escaped his lips and then he was kissing Magnus. The feeling of Magnus’ soft lips against his own were indescribable. He pulled the other man against him — pulling him roughly by the shirt. Magnus let out a soft moan, but didn’t resist. He parted Alec’s lips gently, using his tongue to explore the boy’s soft mouth. But the kisses grew stronger and Alec was growing more desperate. He tugged at Magnus’ shirt, trying to pull it up over Magnus’ head. Magnus helped him out — breaking away from Alec for only a moment in order to be released from his shirt.  
“Will you stay?” Magnus whispered, his lips brushing Alec’s teasingly.  
Alec wrapped his arms around Magnus’ waist and yanked him forward. Their mouths collided and Magnus tore Alec’s shirt from his body. Alec spun around quickly so that it was now Magnus’ back against the wall.  
They stared at each other for a moment — blue eyes on green — heart eyes on heart eyes. Alec took a deep breath.  
“Only if you make me stay” he whispered — and Magnus grabbed hold of his body and slammed him against the wall.


	12. Life goes on

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So after the last chapter's intensity, here's Chapter 12!!!

Alec was shrugging on his shirt and zipping up his flyer when the door to Magnus’ office swung open. He and Magnus were standing side by side, with Alec almost completely dressed and Magnus barely. Alec had really hoped it would just be Catarina — popping in to check on Magnus. It would have been easier to explain the situation to someone so close to Magnus. But it wasn’t Catarina, it was Raphael Santiago.   
“What the-“ Raphael started, his eyes drifting from the half naked Magnus to the wide eyed Alec.  
“It’s not what it looks like” Alec said quickly, his voice raised in alarm.  
“No, no” Magnus said, doing his best not to laugh at the whole situation. “It is exactly what it looks like”.  
Alec shot Magnus a weary look before turning his gaze back onto the stunned looking Raphael. He’d never seen Raphael look so pale — so alarmed.  
“You’re gay?” he asked, looking at Alec with narrowed eyes.  
“Yeah…” Alec began slowly. “Is this the part where you tell me God will punish me?”.  
“Raphael would never say that” Magnus said, jumping to his employee’s defence.   
Alec’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh, really? And how would you know that? Are you two best buddies?’.  
“Well, I wouldn’t say best buddies-“ Magnus began, but Raphael raised his hand to stop him.  
“You told me you liked girls better” he said to Magnus, but his eyes were on Alec.  
“I said that?” Magnus asked, looking alarmed. “I probably just told you that because at the time, I was dating Camille”.  
Alec blinked in confusion. “Wait, so you know Magnus is bisexual?”.  
“Yes, I do” Raphael said through gritted teeth.  
Magnus looked from Raphael to Alec with raised eyebrows. “I’m getting the feeling you two know each other? Or do strangers normally just glare at each other like that?”.  
“We met the other day” Raphael lied, his eyes still on Alec.  
“Yeah but he was my school bully first” Alec said, knowing that Raphael was definitely trying to avoid that subject.   
Raphael closed his eyes slowly as the words sprung from Alec’s mouth. Magnus’ eyes widened and he looked from Alec to Raphael and then back at Alec.   
“School bully?” he echoed.  
“Yeah, but he only bullied me because I was the son of a rich guy” Alec said. “He bullied my best friend Aline because she was gay. He’d tell her every morning as she walked in the gates — that she was going to hell and would burn for eternity. He was the perfect little catholic boy”.  
“Enough!” Raphael snapped. “We were kids”.  
“Is this true, Raphael?” Magnus asked, looking at Raphael as though the boy had just slapped him across the face.  
“Like I said” Raphael said, looking up at his boss. “We were just kids. I was just a kid”.  
“And what did you do to Alexander?” Magnus asked, forcing himself not to shout.   
Raphael glanced over at Alec who was watching him darkly. Alec wasn’t the small and afraid boy Raphael had remembered during their high school years. Alec had always clung to his gay best friend — Aline. They were the perfect pair and Raphael had hated the fact that two people could be so close. He’d always enjoyed tearing Aline away from Alec and watching her run away, crying out for help. He’d then corner Alec around the hall and beat him up until he was black and blue. But now — as an adult — Raphael couldn’t think about the whole experience without wanting to vomit.  
“I beat him up” Raphael said finally, his voice quiet and uneven.   
“Get out” Magnus snapped.  
“Magnus I-“ Raphael began, but Magnus just pointed towards the door.  
Alec watched in silence as Raphael left the room, head bowed in shame. He couldn’t say he felt sorry for him, not after all the time and effort he’d spent trying to cover up his bruises. Not after the times he’d have to watch his back — afraid that Raphael and his gang of assholes would come to kill him. When the door slammed shut and Raphael was long gone, Alec turned around to look at the distressed looking Magnus.  
“I wasn’t aware that he was your friend” he said quietly.   
“A good friend, actually” Magnus frowned. “But I didn’t know he’d been a bully”.  
“I don’t forgive him” Alec said. “But he was right, we were all just kids. I’m sure he’s…changed”.  
“Once a bully, always a bully” Magnus sighed. “I knew he wasn’t okay with homosexuals. He’d make that much clear all the time…but your friend…”.  
Alec ran his fingers through his hair and moved over towards the window. The thought of Aline made him want to cry — to just sit down and cry. He’d been able to mention her before without thinking about it, but now it stung.  
“Alexander?” Magnus asked quietly.  
“Aline killed herself a couple of years ago” Alec whispered. “Not because of the bullying — or at least she said it wasn’t that. She just struggled to live with herself which was strange because-“.  
He trailed off, his voice becoming too shaky to continue. Outside the window he could see busy New Yorker’s hopping from taxi to taxi — carrying to many shopping bags to count. He tried to focus on them as he stifled his tears, he really didn’t want to cry in front of Magnus. Not again.  
“Why was it strange?” Magnus asked curiously, plopping himself down onto the edge of his desk.  
Alec took a deep breath as images of the happy Aline he’d once known flashed on and off in his head. He could imagine her now — young and happy with the girlfriend of her dreams. But she never got to make it that far.  
“It was strange because she was the most confident girl I knew” Alec said finally. “She didn’t hesitate to tell people who she was — she was proud. Or at least I thought she had been. The truth is, I never really knew her weaknesses. We were best friends — but she kept secrets from me”.  
“People deal with things differently” Magnus sighed. “Aline must of thought she could handle it on her own”.  
Alec shrugged and turned away from the window — his blue eyes stinging with tears. He forced himself not to cry — and he could hold it in — as long as they stopped talking about Aline.   
“Anyway” he said, trying to change the subject. “Do you really think I’m to shy and problematic?”.  
Magnus let out a shaky laugh. “Shy…yes. But you’re not problematic, Alexander. I was being the problematic one. I am sorry for what I said to you”.  
“So am I” Alec sighed, stepping forward so that he stood in front of the seated Magnus. “But I guess we already made up when we were…you know…”.  
Magnus smiled. “Yeah, I guess we did”.

**

“Oh come on! It will be fun! It will be like a games night!” Isabelle said, buzzing away into her phone like she usually did when she was excited.  
Alec was on his way home — dodging cyclists and skidding past traffic. He wasn’t too pleased when Isabelle called — interrupting his favourite song — and invited him over to Simon’s house to join in on a game’s night.   
“I don’t play games” he groaned, turning round a corner towards his apartment.  
“Sure you do” Isabelle said. “We used to play monopoly all the time, remember?”.  
“Oh yeah” Alec said in his ‘my sister is annoying’ voice. “And you and Jace would always steal my money…yeah I remember that!”.  
Isabelle laughed. “Please, Alec. Clary and Jace are coming…even Max! It won’t be fun without you”.  
“I’m sure it will be equally as fun whether I’m there or not” Alec sighed.  
He walked up towards his front door and shoved in the key. He ignored Isabelle’s endless chatter on the other end of the line and dumped his things onto the kitchen table. She was going on about how anti-social he was, which wasn’t at all true. He socialised — not often. But he did.   
“Alec Gideon Lightwood” Isabelle said firmly. “You are coming over to Simon’s and I expect you to bring a certain someone”.  
“A certain who?” Alec asked — suddenly alarmed.  
“Jace told me you and Magnus went out to dinner” Isabelle said, her tone light and curious. “I take it it went well since you aren’t any more grumpier than usual”.  
Alec rolled his eyes and shrank himself down into his couch. Of course Jace would tell Isabelle about the ‘dinner date’ and of course Isabelle was going to automatically think that he and Magnus were a thing. Well, they were, weren’t they? He didn’t know. And he really didn’t want to discuss it with his nagging little sister.  
“Why would you want me to bring Magnus?” he asked finally, trying not to sound like a blushing five year old.  
“Because I want to meet him properly” Isabelle sighed. “And besides — we need you to have a partner of some sort. I have Simon. Clary and Jace have each other and well…we don’t want you to feel left out”.  
“I won’t feel left out” Alec replied. “I’ve got Max”.  
“No you don’t” Isabelle chuckled. “Max is to invested in his new comic book to give a rats ass about you”.  
Alec sighed. “Why must you insist on dragging me along to these pointless activities?”.  
“Because I love you” Isabelle replied. “Be here in half an hour! And bring Magnus!”.  
Before Alec could reply — Isabelle hung up — leaving him displeased and annoyed. 

**

Alec had spent 15 minutes pacing his bedroom floor. Back and forth, back and forth. He was fiddling with his phone, Magnus’ contact flashing on and off screen. He’d been meaning to call him — ask him if he wanted to join him for game night. But he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. He was afraid Magnus would just laugh and decline his offer. Yeah, they kissed and yeah, they had sex in Magnus’ office. But that didn’t mean Magnus was willing to be boyfriend material.  
“For christ sake!” Alec shouted at himself. “Just call him!”.  
He hated the fact that he was always so anxious — so scared. Why couldn’t he be like Jace and Isabelle who did exactly what they wanted and didn’t worry about the consequences?   
After a few long moments of self motivation, he finally decided to call Magnus. He clicked on the contact, took a deep breath, and waited. Magnus answered on the 3rd ring, his voice light and charming.  
“I was wondering when you’d call” he said. “I was beginning to miss you”.   
A smile tugged at Alec’s lips. “We haven’t been apart for that long”.  
“It feels like centuries” Magnus joked. “So whats up? Are you calling to apologise? Ask me on a date? What is it, Alexander?”.  
Alec swallowed hard. “I was wondering - well, you see uh, my sister invited me to a games night at her boyfriend’s house…Jace, Clary and Max are going to be there as well and I was uh…I was uh”.  
“Yes?” Magnus urged.  
“I was wondering if you’d like to join me” Alec finished, staring outside his window as he awaited a reply.  
There was a sharp intake of breath and then a loud sigh of relief.   
“I’d love to, Alexander!” Magnus exclaimed. “Oh how I love games!”.  
Alec felt his lips part in surprise. “Really? Great! Uh, meet me outside my apartment and we’ll walk to Simon’s house…he only lives a few streets away”.  
“I’ll be there as quick as I can!” Magnus said delightedly — and then hung up the phone.


	13. Let the Games begin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 13 for y'all!

Simon Lewis — Isabelle’s delightful boyfriend — did in fact only live a couple of streets away. What Alec had failed to mention to Magnus was that Simon still lived with his mom. Which shouldn’t have been a problem since Simon’s mom usually snuck out of the house whenever her son invited friends over. Alec had never actually spoken to his mom. She was a lovely woman — at least thats what Isabelle and Clary had told him. Whenever Alec had been to Simon’s house — which was usually just to pick up Isabelle — Simon’s mother tended to just shy away from anyone who was not familiar. He never understood why. He never cared to. That was until he and Magnus stood on the front steps of Simon’s house with his mother — Elaine — staring at them as though they’d come from another planet.  
“It’s Alec” Alec said as a way of greeting. “I’m Isabelle’s brother. Apparently Simon’s having a-“.  
“A games night” Elaine finished off for him. “Thats right — sorry I’m just a little tired”.  
She offered a small smile towards Alec before turning her attention onto Magnus. It was clear by her facial expression that she had no clue who he was or why he was standing on her door step.  
“I’m Magnus Bane” Magnus said. “I’m Alec’s…friend”.  
Alec swallowed hard. Elaine didn’t know Alec was gay — nor did she suspect it. She simply nodded a greeting in Magnus’ direction before opening the door wider to let them inside. She informed them that the rest of the ‘gang’ — as she liked to call it — were in Simon’s bedroom. Elaine retreated back into her own bedroom whilst Magnus and Alec travelled down the small hallway that lead them towards the others. They could hear laughter and loud chatter. Not to surprisingly, Alec could hear Jace’s loud voice above the rest — followed by hysterical laughter on Clary’s behalf.  
“Sounds like a jungle in there” Magnus whispered to Alec with a smirk.  
“It’ll get a lot louder” Alec whispered back. “Trust me”.  
Simon’s bedroom door was creaked open, revealing a black cabinet and the top of Clary’s red hair. As Alec and Magnus approached, they could hear the conversation coming from inside.  
“I think he wants to arrive fashionably late” Isabelle was saying.  
“Isn’t fashionably late for like…wedding days?” Simon asked.  
“No, Simon” Jace said. “Although women do like to cause a lot of drama”.  
“Not true!” Clary gasped — followed by a loud smack sound.  
Magnus and Alec exchanged confused and unsure glances before stepping inside. As soon as they entered, all eyes were on them. Isabelle looked pleased, a smirk unafraid to decorate her features. She was laying on the bed with Simon beside her — his arms around her affectionately. Jace and Clary were sitting on the floor, their backs against the bed frame. Sitting beside Clary was Max — too invested in his comic book to even notice Alec and Magnus’ entrance.  
“And so the games begin!” Jace announced, a large grin forming as his eyes met Alec’s.  
Alec simply stared, not sure of why his step brother was grinning or why his sister was smirking. He could feel Magnus beside him, smiling politely and waiting for an introduction. Of course he’d met Jace and Clary, but that hadn’t been proper. This time, all introductions had to be formal and polite. Not that Jace looked like he was going to attack Magnus with glares this time. Isabelle was the first to stand up, her blue eyes lighting up in excitement as her eyes travelled up and down Magnus’ slim body. Surprisingly, Magnus wasn’t wearing anything over the top. He was wearing a pair of simple black jeans and a blue stripped shirt that Alec actually liked.   
“I’m Isabelle Lightwood” Isabelle introduced herself, holding out her hand politely. “We met briefly at the party. You looked different then. But oh how I love you eye shadow”.   
Magnus shook Isabelle’s hand with a smile. “And how I love your red lipstick! I’m Magnus Bane”.  
Simon crawled off of his bed slowly and wandered over towards Magnus. His expression was a mixture between surprise and astonishment.   
“I’m Simon Lewis” he said, his voice uncharacteristically charming. “I’m Isabelle’s boyfriend. Great friend of Alec’s. You-you’re actually Magnus Bane? The Magnus Bane?”.  
“That I am” Magnus said proudly, holding out his hand to shake Simon’s.  
Simon shook it quickly, his eyes darting from Magnus, to Alec, and then back at Magnus. It was clear by his expression that he’d been a big fan of Magnus’ work for quite some time. Jace and Clary had emerged from their seated positions and greeted Magnus. This time, Jace actually shook Magnus’ hand. Which was much to Alec’s relief as he watched from the shadows. Everyone — except Max who was still buried in his comic — surrounded Magnus as he took a seat on the carpet covered floor. Simon bombarded him with work related questions and Isabelle asked him about make up brands. Jace asked how much money he made and Clary asked if he enjoyed being head of the company. Alec let them all get to know Magnus, maybe by the end of the interrogation they’d know more about him than he did.   
“Max” Alec said lightly as he wandered over towards his little brother. “What are you reading?”.  
Max looked up for the first time since Alec had arrived. His dark brown hair was messy and muffled as though he’d been in the same reading position for years. Head bowed — neck aching forward.  
“New comic” he answered, holding up a new Iron Man comic that he’d been talking about for at least three months. “Simon bought it for me”.  
“That was nice of him” Alec noted as he sat down. “Any good?”.  
“Well Tony just killed a bad guy with a stutter” Max said. “So yeah, its pretty good”.  
Alec nodded and turned his attention back onto the others. Isabelle was now showing Magnus a bunch of fashion magazines while Simon continued to ask work related questions. Clary and Jace had returned to their seated position against the bed frame. They were holding hands and smiling. Which wasn’t at all an unusual sight.   
“Who’s that guy?” Max asked, pointing to Magnus.  
“Thats Magnus” Alec answered.  
“Is he your boyfriend?” Max asked.  
“What?” Alec blinked in alarm. “I-I don’t know. No. Not yet”.  
Max smirked. “So he’s going to be your boyfriend…like…soon?”  
Alec opened his mouth to answer his little brother’s intruding question, but to his relief, Jace’s loud and authoritative voice cut in before he could say anything.   
“It’s game time!” he announced. “But what on earth should we play?!”.  
“Twister!” Isabelle shouted. Which just earned her a bunch of groans.  
“How about nothing physical?” Simon suggested, crawling back onto his bed.  
“Amen to that!” Clary said as she jumped up to join him.  
“Something dangerous?” Jace asked, smirking at Isabelle the way he always did when they both had a very bad idea.  
“Something very dangerous” Isabelle agreed.  
“But not to dangerous” Clary said. “Max is here”.  
“I’m not a kid” Max reminded them all.   
“Thats right!” Jace said. “He’s one of us”.  
Magnus met Alec’s gaze from across the room. There was happiness in Magnus’ eyes, Alec noted. The kind of happiness that Alec hadn’t seen back at the office. Maybe what Magnus needed was to be around a bunch of immature young adults to loosen up. What Alec needed was a warm bath.   
“What do you want to play, Magnus?” Isabelle asked, glancing down at her apparent new best friend.  
Magnus glanced back up at her and smiled. “I was thinking something more risky”.  
“Risky?” Jace echoed. “I like the sound of that”.  
“We could play cards against humanity” Simon suggested.  
“No thats a terrible game!” Clary said as she slapped Simon’s shoulder.  
“It’s my kind of game” Jace chuckled which only earned him a glare from Clary.  
“What about spin the bottle?” Magnus suggested.  
“Oh yeah!” Isabelle squealed. “I remember that game! Used to play it all the time! It never ended well…”.  
“Whats spin the bottle?” Max asked curiously.  
Alec raised an eyebrow at him. “You’re a teenage boy and you don’t know what spin the bottle is?”.  
“Nope” Max frowned. “Am I supposed to?”.  
“Its a game involving a bottle” Jace started. “And we all sit in a circle”.  
“Then what?” Max pressed on.  
“Then someone spins the bottle” Isabelle continued. “If the head of the bottle lands on you, you have to pick either truth or dare. Whoever the tail of the bottle is pointing to has to ask the questions”.  
“It’s fun” Clary added, noticing Max’s doubtful look. “I’m sure you’ll love it”.  
Isabelle clapped her hands together and glanced over at the unamused looking Simon. “Go find a bottle. We need a bottle. Any sort will do”.  
“Yes ma’am” Simon said as he hopped off of his bed.  
“Thats my man!” Isabelle called after him as he left the room.  
The rest of the gang gathered round in a circle. Clary and Jace sat next to each other — whispering amongst themselves as they waited for the bottle. Max crawled over to sit in between Jace and Alec, still holding on to his precious comic book. On the other side of Alec, was Magnus. He had crossed his legs and was sitting up straight — more than ready to play the game. Isabelle sat down beside him and left room in between herself and Clary for Simon. When he finally re-entered the room — holding a bottle — Isabelle and Jace both burst into stupid cheers.  
“Who wants to spin it?” Simon asked as he sat down.  
“Can I?” Max asked.   
No one could say no to Max. So Simon handed him the bottle and they all watched in silence as Max spun the bottle. Round and Round it went until it chose its first victims. The head of the bottle landed on Clary and the tail landed on Alec.  
“Truth or Dare, Clary?” Alec asked.  
“Truth” Clary said, ignoring the groans coming from Jace and Izzy.  
“Hm” Alec thought for a moment. “What is the worst thing that Jace has done on a date?’.  
Jace gave Alec a roll of the eyes before fixing his gaze on his girlfriend. Clary was trying not to laugh, purposely avoiding eye contact with Jace.  
“One time we were at the movies and Jace went to hold my hand, but instead of grabbing my hand, he accidentally grabbed some man’s who was sitting on the other side of him” Clary revealed, causing an eruption of laughter to shake up the room.  
“I almost got beaten up for that” Jace said, shaking his head. “Deadly mistake”.  
“Ok Max spin the bottle!” Isabelle ordered.  
Max spun the bottle. The head landed on Isabelle and the tail landed on Max.   
“Truth or dare?” Max asked with a smirk.  
Isabelle returned the smirk. “I choose dare, of course”.  
“I dare you to Prank call your ex boyfriend Meliorn and tell him you’re pregnant with his child” Max said, which earned him surprised stares from both Alec and Jace.  
Isabelle, however, didn’t look too surprised. “Of course you’re gonna say something like that”.  
Max chuckled, unashamed of his ridiculous dare. Isabelle shoved her phone out of her pocket and quickly dialled her ex boyfriend’s number. Meliorn and Isabelle had dated years ago, but no member of the group had forgotten him — or his nasty smirk.   
“Hello?” said a cold voice from the other line.  
Isabelle held out the phone in front of her, the loud speaker allowing the whole gang to hear the conversation.  
“Meliorn” Isabelle greeted. “It’s Isabelle Lightwood. I don’t know if you remember me but I have something really important to discuss with you”.  
There was a pause.  
“Yeah I remember you” Meliorn sighed. “What is it?”.  
Isabelle couldn’t very well tell Meliorn she was pregnant with his child because they hadn’t seen each other in years. So she had to change it up a little.  
“You see, the thing is…four years ago I was pregnant” she said, doing her best not to burst out laughing. “I gave birth to a beautiful baby and…now she’s four and I thought I should let you know”.  
“Why?” Meliorn asked.  
“Because she’s yours” Isabelle said finally.  
There was another very long pause. During this time, Isabelle had to cover her mouth in order to keep herself from laughing. Both Jace and Clary were waiting in anticipation — clearly waiting to hear Meliorn’s reaction. Alec and Magnus waited curiously, not sure of what could possibly occur. And Simon, well, he didn’t look to happy with the whole situation.  
“Why are you telling me now?” Meliorn asked finally, his voice cracking at the word ‘now’.  
Isabelle couldn’t hold it back any longer. She burst out laughing.  
“Isabelle?” Meliorn asked.  
“This was a dare, Meliorn” Isabelle laughed. “No kid, buddy. Chao”.  
The phone hung up.   
“Spin the bottle!” Simon called out, trying to redirect the game somewhere else.  
Max spun the bottle again. The head landed on Magnus and the tail on Jace.   
“Truth or dare?” Jace asked.  
“Dare” Magnus replied.  
“Your brave” Isabelle noted. “Jace chooses the worst dares”.  
“I dare you to sit on Alec’s lap and tell him what you want for Christmas” Jace said, his eyes bright with amusement.  
Clary made a choking sound — almost like a laugh. Both Simon and Isabelle chuckled while Alec looked horrified with the whole idea. And it wasn’t even his dare!  
“Couldn’t you think of anything better?” Max asked with a frown.  
“You wouldn’t get it, Max” Isabelle said, smiling widely. “But the dare is pretty funny”.   
Magnus glanced over at Alec and shrugged. It was clear by his small smile and bright eyes that he was completely fine with the dare he’d just been given. He moved close to Alec slowly — the whole group watching him with fixated expressions.   
“You don’t have to-” Alec started, but before he could finish speaking, Magnus was already on his lap.  
“What I want for christmas, Alexander” Magnus started with a smirk. “Is a shit tone of make up, a new air conditioner because the one I have sucks. Oh, and I’d also like a new boyfriend”.  
“Are you asking him out?” Simon asked with wide eyes.   
Magnus glanced over at Simon with raised eyebrows. “I’m telling him what I want for christmas”.  
“You should ask him out” Isabelle said, amending her boyfriend’s previous statement.  
Alec had gone bright red. Not only were his siblings and friends harassing Magnus to ask him out. But Magnus was sitting on his lap — not to far away from in between his legs.   
“Stop making them feel uncomfortable” Clary said, frowning slightly as she noticed Alec’s red cheeks.  
“Dares over, Magnus” Jace pointed out with a smirk. “You can get off Alec”.  
“Oh but I’m not ready” Magnus said, glancing back at Alec.  
Their eyes met for a moment and all Magnus could see was his whole world. He’d become so attached to the boy underneath him — more attached than he normally would let himself be. He and Alec had already kissed, slept together — he was so close to being in love with him. All he had to do was ask one simple question. One simple question and he’d feel free and relaxed. But that all depended on the answer…  
“Alexander” he said gently, his voice low so that only Alec could hear him. “Do you want to be my boyfriend?”.  
For a moment, Alec just sat stock still. His dark blue eyes were unreadable as they stared into Magnus’ green ones. Magnus could feel the apprehension in the room. Not only from himself or Alec — but from those sitting around them.   
“I’d…I-I yes” Alec said, his soft lips curling into a smile. “Yes, Magnus, I’d love to”.  
Magnus let out a relieved sigh and bent down to brush his lips against Alec’s. When their lips met and their bodies were no longer apart — Isabelle and Simon cheered loudly followed by a wolf whistle from Jace and a proud laugh from Clary. Max, who wasn’t sure why everyone was cheering, just watched his brother engulf himself into the new stranger. When the two finally pulled away, they stared at each other breathlessly, both smiling like lovesick fools.  
“This has been the best games night ever!” Simon exclaimed.  
“Damn straight! Oh wait-” Isabelle laughed.  
“So he’s your boyfriend now?” Max asked in confusion.  
Magnus climbed off of Alec and glanced over at the youngest member of the small gang. Max was staring at him — eyes wide and curious.   
“Yes I am” Magnus said, holding out his hand towards the boy. “I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced”.  
Max gladly shook Magnus’ hand, grinning. The rest of the games night consisted of ridiculous truths and completely outrageous dares. But it was fun — the most fun Magnus had had in a long time.


	14. Share a World

Alec entered the Bane building with an unfamiliar sense of confidence. He couldn’t quite pin-point what it was exactly that made him feel so confident, but he had a feeling it had something to with the fact that Magnus Bane was his new boyfriend. As he walked down the corridor towards his office, he found Raphael standing in a corner, his hands rummaging through piles of paperwork.   
“Everything alright?” Alec asked.  
Raphael looked up in surprise and then glared once his eyes met Alec’s. It was clear from the bags under his eyes and the loose tie around his neck that Raphael hadn’t slept the night before. Whether that was from work or not, Alec would never know.  
“I’m fine” Raphael replied through gritted teeth. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”.  
“He does” said a cheerful voice from behind Alec.  
Magnus.   
Alec whirled around quickly, forcing himself not to gasp in surprise or even pull a surprised expression.  
“Thats what I thought” Raphael mumbled before grabbing his paperwork and waddling away.  
“Good morning, Alexander” Magnus greeted. “I’m afraid I have some bad news for you”.  
Fear washed over Alec like a gigantic wave. “W-what is it?”.  
“There’s someone in my office to see you” Magnus sighed. “And he doesn’t want to be kept waiting”.  
Alec swallowed hard and bit his lip anxiously. He didn’t at all like the sound of that. Reluctantly, he followed Magnus into his office, not to surprised when he saw his dad standing in the corner with his arms folded over his chest. Robert was dressed in a dark suit, looking as professional as Magnus did. But unlike Magnus, Robert was not smiling or showing any signs of cheerfulness. He looked firm and bitter, but that was nothing new.  
“Dad” Alec greeted, looking from Magnus to Robert in confusion. “What’s going on?”.  
“Should I go?” Magnus asked, standing at the doorway with an unreadable expression.  
“It doesn’t matter” Robert sighed. “Alec, we need to talk”.  
“I think we’ve both said enough” Alec said, crossing his arms over his chest as if to shield himself.   
“You might have. But I have not” Robert unfolded his arms and moved to take a step closer towards his son.  
But Alec moved backwards instinctively. Magnus remained standing in the doorway, his green eyes drifting from Alec to Robert and then back to Alec. He was curious to see what Robert wanted to talk about. There was something different about the older man, something remorseful.  
“Well” Alec started, studying his father unsurely. “Go on, talk”.  
Robert opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again. In this moment, he reminded Alec of himself. Alec hated to think of himself resembling his father in anyway. But they both shared the same anxiety traits. Robert was nervous — anxious. That much was clear. And all Alec could do was wonder why.   
“The thing is…I shouldn’t have given you an ultimatum and…” he trailed off, his usual firm and hard voice transitioning into an uncharacteristic soft one.  
Alec said nothing — just stared.  
“I guess I’m apologising for my behaviour” Robert went on. “It was wrong of me to be so harsh. I should have known something like that wouldn’t work on you. You’re too smart for that. And my stubbornness ended up pushing you away. I never wanted that, Alec. Not at all. Your mother and I we love you so much. We never say it. But we do love you. I’ve always been worried that you weren’t going to fit in — but you proved me wrong. I’ve never been a good father to you…and I’m sorry”.  
Alec’s lips parted in surprise and he stared at his father in confusion. Never had Robert ever admitted that he was wrong — nor that he was sorry. But most of all, Robert had never said that he loved him. But now, the words hung in the air, slowly ingesting themselves into the stunned looking Alec.  
“Please forgive me, Alec” Robert begged.   
Alec felt a large amount of weight lift up off of his shoulders and he took a step forward towards his dad. Without saying a word, he wrapped his arms around the older man’s shoulders and pulled him into a hug. It wasn’t something either of them were used to — but neither of them rejected it. They embraced each other and held one another — forgiveness and love flowing through the both of them. A father and son reunited. Magnus — still standing by the door — smiled. He knew how much it would mean to his new boyfriend to have his father on his side again. When Alec and Robert pulled away, neither of them could wipe the smiles off of their faces. For a long moment, Robert just looked at his son, amazed to have gotten somewhere with him. Then he turned to look at Magnus, his smile fading, but only slightly.  
“I heard you two are…” he paused, returning his gaze back onto Alec. “Dating?”.  
Alec shifted uncomfortably, but nodded anyway.  
“Thats—I’m glad” Robert said with a forced smile. “I wish you two all the best”.  
“Do you really mean that?” Alec asked, unable to hide the hopefulness in his voice.  
Robert placed a hand on his son’s shoulder and nodded. “I really do. I’ve come to terms with it and I’ve accepted it. Alec, you need to do what makes you happy, okay?”.  
“Dad?” Alec asked, raising an eyebrow.  
Robert blinked. “Yes?”.  
“What on earth did you have for breakfast?”.  
Robert let out a low chuckle. “Something that I should have more often”.  
“You said it, not me” Alec smiled.  
Robert smiled cheerfully and held out his hand towards Alec. Alec, without a moments hesitation, shook it.  
“So are we good?” Robert asked.  
“We are” Alec replied.

**

Work that day was surprisingly stress free. Magnus had given Alec his work for the day and that was that. But after three and a half hours of non-stop typing, Alec’s fatigue began to kick in and he was practically half asleep at his desk. Eyes shut and a dark world surrounding him — memories of Magnus’ lips brushing against his tainted his mind.   
“Alec” said a familiar voice, followed by a loud slap of paperwork greeting the desk.  
It was Catarina — staring down at him with raised eyebrows. Alec straightened quickly, his hands quick to return to the keyboard. But he could not hide the fact that he had been about to fall asleep. And dream about their boss.  
“Is today’s work too tiring for you?” Catarina asked curiously, crossing her arms over chest as though she were angry — but her gentle face said otherwise.  
“Not at all” Alec replied. “I was just — thinking of ideas”.  
Catarina raised an eyebrow. “Ideas? And you think of ideas by falling asleep at your desk? Interesting”.  
“I’m sorry” Alec sighed. “I promise it won’t happen again”.  
“It’s quite alright” Catarina said gently, managing a small smile. “Mr Bane wants to see you again. I’m not going to pretend I don’t know what’s going on between the both of you…but I just want you to know that if you hurt him — in any way — you’ll have me to deal with”.  
Alec swallowed hard. He stared into Catarina’s soft eyes and realised she was not joking. Magnus and Catarina obviously had a close bond — a bond unbreakable — a bond that Catarina did not want to risk breaking. She cared about him — and that was the only thing keeping Alec from flinching away. Instead, he just smiled.  
“You don’t have to worry about any of that” he said. “I don’t plan to hurt him at all”.  
Catarina smiled a bright, loving smile. “Well then we’re both on the same page. You better go see, Magnus. He’ll be waiting for you”.  
Without further stalling, Alec stood up and made his way back towards Magnus’ office. It didn’t take long before he was inside, staring into his boss’ bright green eyes from across the room.  
“You called” he said, trying to keep the smile from his face.  
“Sit” Magnus said, gesturing towards the chair in front of him.   
Alec did as he was told, slightly unsure of what it was that Magnus wanted. The other man had an unreadable expression — it wasn’t happy nor sad. But it wasn’t entirely cheerful as it usually was.   
“Something wrong?” Alec asked.  
“Quite the contrary” Magnus said, his face dead serious.   
Alec blinked in confusion. “Then…uh, what is it?”.  
“We both come from completely different worlds” Magnus started, dragging his index finger along the edge of his table. “Complicated worlds, in fact. But we both were drawn to each other…leading us to the now”.  
Alec stared at Magnus, unsure of what the other man was trying to say. Yeah, they both did come from different — complicated — worlds. And yeah, they obviously had been drawn together. But what was Magnus trying to say?  
“I’ve started to realise that I depend a lot on your company” Magnus continued. “And since you have your whole family’s approval — we can truly be a couple. Right?”.  
Alec looked a little taken back. Where was all this coming from? He did his best to remain calm and unnerved, deciding it best if he didn’t open his mouth to speak. So to answer Magnus’ question, Alec nodded half heartedly.   
“I guess what I’m trying to say is, we don’t have to be two people from two different worlds” Magnus sighed, lifting his eyes up so that they met Alec’s. “We can share a world.”  
“Yeah” Alec said, swallowing hard. “I think we can…yes.”  
Magnus managed a small smile. “I really really like you, Alec. And I know, god I know, it sounds cheesy but I want you to just how determined I am to make us work”.  
“I really like you too, Magnus” Alec smiled. “But where has this all come from?”.  
Magnus shrugged, leaning back in his chair with exhaustion — as if the mere effort of sitting upright took all of his strength. Alec stared at him intently, waiting for an answer, any answer. But Magnus didn’t look as though he were going to give one.   
“Do you think I’m having doubts?” Alec asked curiously. “Because I’m not. With Dad accepting me and everything…I don’t think I’ll ever have doubts again”.  
At that, Magnus smiled. “No I didn’t think you had doubts…I just…I’ve never thought this way about anyone. Not even Camille who I thought was the love of my life”.  
Alec blushed. At the mention of Camille, he did feel a little awkward. But he did his best to keep it from showing on his face. Magnus must of noticed though because he leaned forward in his chair and pressed the palm of his hand against Alec’s cheek. Alec smiled at the touch.   
“Tell me you feel the same” Magnus said, his tone pleading.  
Alec raised his hand to brush over Magnus’. “I do, Magnus. I feel the same. More than the same”.  
“So this is it then” Magnus smiled. “This is our beginning”.  
“And what a journey we have gone through” Alec chuckled.  
Magnus pulled Alec forward — hand gripped around collar — and kissed the boy hard. Alec returned the kiss, unable to keep himself from smiling.  
“Now quit kissing me and get back to work” Magnus ordered as he pulled away.  
Alec stood up quickly and hurried toward the door, only glancing backwards to smile at his boyfriend.  
“Yes, sir!”.

T h e E n d

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is it. This is Chapter 14. The End. I know it wasn't the best ending but I had a new idea for a fanfiction so I kind of got bored with this one. Despite that, I've loved writing and I'm glad some of you liked it. I have appreciated every single comment and kudos and it has made me really happy just to read your thoughts. So thank you all and I hope you've enjoyed the little adventure. And May the fourth be with you!

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! So this is chapter one! I've written about 8 chapters so far but I still have a lot of editing to do. I'm not sure how long this fic is going to be because I have a habit of dragging it out! I'm new to this site, so I don't know how any of this works! But if you like this chapter, please let me know and I'll continue to post more !
> 
> Thank you!
> 
> Also, I don't own any of these characters, Cassandra Clare created them all...((except the grumpy reception lady))


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